Note: I saw this at TIFF in September, so there may be differences with the version currently playing.
This is a movie in 3 acts. The 1st and most important act is about the young people in a military performing arts troupe in the mid-late 1970s. Their day-to-day lives are interspersed with performances of song and dance. Since this was made for a Chinese audience, I assume that the culture portrayed was authentic, including the directing of all emotion to revolutionary / patriotic fervor.
In the 2nd act, the two main characters separately find their way into serving in the war between China and Vietnam - a war I doubt many in the west know about. If I was the writer or director, I would have found a way to end the story there.
However, this being an epic story of whole lives, there is a 3rd act that follows various ex-members of the troupe all the way down to basically the present day, using occasional updates with voiceovers. This is especially weak, and dilutes the emotional impact of the surprising ending of the 1st act.
This is a movie in 3 acts. The 1st and most important act is about the young people in a military performing arts troupe in the mid-late 1970s. Their day-to-day lives are interspersed with performances of song and dance. Since this was made for a Chinese audience, I assume that the culture portrayed was authentic, including the directing of all emotion to revolutionary / patriotic fervor.
In the 2nd act, the two main characters separately find their way into serving in the war between China and Vietnam - a war I doubt many in the west know about. If I was the writer or director, I would have found a way to end the story there.
However, this being an epic story of whole lives, there is a 3rd act that follows various ex-members of the troupe all the way down to basically the present day, using occasional updates with voiceovers. This is especially weak, and dilutes the emotional impact of the surprising ending of the 1st act.