Feng revisits deadly 1976 quake in 'Aftershock'

What little material comfort and political stability the residents of Tangshan enjoyed came toppling down when a 7.5-magnitude earthquake struck on July 28. At least 240,000 people perished as the city's industrial landscape was reduced to rubble.

Thirty-four years later, director Feng Xiaogang is revisiting one of modern China's deadliest natural catastrophes in a 135-million-yuan (US$20-million), 135-minute epic due out July 22. In addition to recreating the sheer physical destruction, Feng uses “Aftershock” to examine its aftermath through the story of a present-day mother's three-decade journey to an emotional reunion with the daughter she thought she had lost to the disaster.

“You can call it a disaster movie, but the real disaster is the havoc it wreaks on the human heart after the earthquake,” the 52-year-old director told The Associated Press in Hong Kong on Saturday.

It's not your typical summer blockbuster fare, especially for a successful commercial filmmaker well known for his comedies. The timing of the release is also sensitive, coming just two years after another deadly earthquake in the southwestern Sichuan province left nearly 90,000 people dead or missing. In April, another earthquake in Qinghai province killed nearly 2,700 people.

China is still wary of questions about the 2008 Sichuan quake, sentencing an activist who investigated the deaths of schoolchildren to five years in prison in February on charges of inciting subversion of state power.

Subscribe to The China Post and save 25%. Click here

SharePrintEmail

Write a Comment

Terms

Enter your comments - 3000 characters max

Type in image code

Submit

 Receive China Post promos
 Respond to this email