excerpt, more at my location - As China's highest-grossing film, and their entry for the Oscars Best Foreign Language Film 2011, Aftershock has a lot to live up to. It spans the thirty-two years between the 1976 Tangshan Earthquake and the 2008 Sichuan Earthquake, both traumatic events within living memory. While dealing with this deeply emotive material, director Xiaogang Feng chose to concentrate on the effect of these disasters on an average Chinese family.
As a film, Aftershock has not pleased everybody, despite it being a box office hit. When dealing with recent and sensitive subject matter, it is hard to get it right. In many ways, it can be applauded as an emotive family drama, but it is possible that a greater historical and political perspective would have given it depth and made it more satisfying to those still dealing with the fallout from these events.
As a film, Aftershock has not pleased everybody, despite it being a box office hit. When dealing with recent and sensitive subject matter, it is hard to get it right. In many ways, it can be applauded as an emotive family drama, but it is possible that a greater historical and political perspective would have given it depth and made it more satisfying to those still dealing with the fallout from these events.