Vivian Qu mixes crime, action, comedy, fantasy elements and family drama in a messy Berlinale competition contender.
“Always the same shit”, comments one of the two titular characters in Vivian Qu’s muddled family drama. That scene might well be inspired by real events on set. The Chinese director’s third feature is filled to the brim with the absurdly melodramatic, hilariously unrealistic dialogue that her young protagonist Fang Di (Wen Qi) has to recite for a screen test. Fang Di storms out mid-scene because she considers the material trashy. Her actual job is as a stunt double for the star actor in a historic fantasy blockbuster. This physically demanding work sees her being lifted and swung on wires. It’s an elective metaphor for the tightrope walk her life has become.
Soon the headstrong stunt woman findes herself in real danger as her troubled past catches up with her. This happens in a very literal sense: Fang Di’s younger cousin Tian Tian (Liu Haocun) finds her. Their unhappy childhood in the sewing factory of Fang Di’s mother is revealed in flashbacks. These suggest a tight bond between the girls. They grew up like sisters, a situation the director mentioned as a common social effect of China’s one-child-policy. Fang Di hides her emotions underneath her tough shell. But most of these feelings remain obscure. The director seems to have forgotten that there could be more to her hero than protecting others.
Tian Tian gets onto the film studio set thanks to several unlikely coincidences and help of delivery driver Ming (Zhang Youhao). Ming takes care of the confused girl for no reason and is only one of numerous stock characters. Qu uses them to bridge the gaping holes in her script, provide some broad comedy and chase her protagonists around. At best these types are merely soulless. At worst they are outright offensive. The most drastic example of this is Tian Tian’s manipulative father (Zhou You). His blank gaze, shuffling walk and lack of redeemable qualities make him a crude caricature of a drug addict.
He is the cause of everyone’s misery and money issues, above all his daughter’s. She hammers this bigoted message home by crying “My father is trash and so am I!”. Qu goes full Nancy Reagan by adding to the plot some vicious drug dealers. They imprison Tian Tian for not being able to pay off her father’s debts and inject her with heroine (because that’s what evil dealers do, right?). And these are merely the first few scenes of a messy plot that could only be saved by embracing its own trashiness. The film studio setting would be ideal for this. It often seems as if the protagonists would go from one film into another.
Too many genres are mixed into the plot: gangster thriller, family tragedy, female friendship drama, fantasy, even a buddy comedy built around three stooges and a hapless hotpot joint owner. Qu, however, doesn’t see the potential of her own ideas. Not even the relationship between Tian Tian and Fang Di is explored beyond sentimental childhood memories. Of all characters Fang Di is the most underdeveloped. She’s hurled through the air for action scenes, but one never learns about her motives. This lack of depth is especially frustrating since Wen who worked with Qu in Angels Wear White delivers the only solid performance. But she can’t save everything – at least not this film.
- OT: Xiang fei de nv hai
- Director: Vivian Qu
- Screenplay: Vivian Qu
- Year: 2025
- Distribution | Production © Films Boutique
