Review: ‘Love Never Ends,’ starring Ni Dahong, Kara Wai, Leung Ka Fai Tony and Cecilia Yip Tung

July 14, 2023

by Carla Hay

Cecilia Yip Tung, Leung Ka Fai Tony, Kara Wai and Ni Dahong in “Love Never Ends” (Photo courtesy of Shanghai Film Group)

“Love Never Ends”

Directed by Han Yan

Mandarin with subtitles

Culture Representation: Taking place in an unnamed part of China, the dramatic film “Love Never Ends” features an all-Asian cast of characters representing the working-class and middle-class.

Culture Clash: Four elderly people navigate romantic love as couples while facing challenges over health and grief.

Culture Audience: “Love Never Ends” will appeal primarily to people who are interested in watching dramas about romance among people in the later stages of their lives.

Ni Dahong and Kara Wai in “Love Never Ends” (Photo courtesy of Shanghai Film Group)

“Love Never Ends” is a sometimes-uneven but ultimately well-acted drama about finding love later in life. The movie is occasionally repetitive, but the story is compelling enough to maintain viewer interest. Although the movie’s tone overall is serious, there are occasional moments of levity that brighten up a story dealing with some depressing subject matter.

Directed by Han Yan, “Love Never Ends” is based on Kang Full’s comic book “I Love You.” Cheng Li wrote the adapted screenplay for “Love Never Ends.” The movie (which takes place in an unnamed city in China) is about four different elderly people, but the person whose perspective is shown the most is an eccentric widower named Chang Weije (played by Ni Dahong), who is a retired zoo maintenance worker. Weije has been a widower for the past 10 years. His wife also used to work at the same zoo.

The movie begins with a scene of Weije being told during a visit with a doctor that Weije has hyperthyroidism, a condition that causes a thyroid to make and release high levels of thyroid hormone. Symptoms of hyperthyroidism include weight loss, increased appetite, rapid heart beat, sweating, shaky hands, muscle weakness and anxiety. Weije keeps this diagnosis a secret from most people he knows.

Weije lives in an area that could be considered working-class poor. The apartment buildings are run-down, and there’s a lot of garbage strewn over the area. Weije is familiar to many people in the community because he stands out: He likes to wear a long-sleeved black Nirvana shirt, and he likes to use a whip in public for no other reason than to show he can crack a whip. He doesn’t use a whip to scare or harm people but to show that he’s agile enough to use a whip.

Weije has another health problem besides hyperthyroidism. He also abuses alcohol. Although it’s never really said if he’s a full-blown alcoholic, his alcohol abuse has become detrimental to his health and to many of his relationships with people. Weije has an adult son and an adult daughter who know about Weije’s drinking problem, and they worry about his getting arrested for doing something illegal while he’s drunk. Certain people in the neighborhood want to see Weije arrested because they think he’s a nuisance who can be reckless.

Early on on the story, Weije meets Li Huiru (played by Kara Wei), a feisty widow who’s about the same age as he is. Wei is a caretaker and a tenant of an elderly woman named Qui Huaxing (played by Cecilia Yip Tung, also known as Cecilia Yip), who is living with dementia and sometimes uses a wheelchair. Huaxing’s devoted husband Xi Dingshen (played by Leung Ka Fai Tony) is very attentive to Huaxing, but he is feeling the strain of he health issues.

“Love Never Ends” shows how the relationships between these four people evolve over time. Weije gets to know Huiru better, and a romance gradually develops between them. Huiru confides in Weije that she’s ashamed that she and Dingshen often have to collect gabarge to recycle for small amounts of money.

Eventually, Weije starts to help take care of Huaxing when he sees her. Dingshen starts to rely on Weije to help with the physical aspects of taking care of Huaxing. For example, in a scene where Huaxing accidentally falls down outside, Dingshen yells at Weije (who was nearby during this fall) for not helping Huaxing get up right away.

In their own ways, Weije and Huiru are grieving over their deceased spouses and are reluctant to get involved in a serious romance with anyone else. They also feel that they’re too old to fall in love again. It’s a myth that is often perpetuated by society that often thinks of elderly people as people who are just passing time until they die.

The ups and downs of being in love with someone who has serious health issues are handled in a mostly realistic and often tender way in “Love Never Ends.” There’s a long stretch of this nearly two-hour movie that is a “will they or won’t they get together” storyline for Weije and Huiru. This part of the story should have been shorter, since it’s very obvious (and also shown in the movie’s trailer) that Weije and Huiru will get together.

“Love Never Ends” is mostly worth watching for the admirable performances of the four main cast members. In addition to the romantic love that the couples have for each other, all four of these characters develop a genuine friendship that is depicted in a refreshingly candid way. Too often, elderly people in scripted movies are presented as people who are mocked or pitied. “Love Never Ends” doesn’t fall into that trap. It’s not a perfect movie, but it handles some of its most difficult topics with charm and grace.

Shanghai Film Group released “Love Never Ends” in select U.S. cinemas and in China on July 7, 2023.

Review: ‘Cliff Walkers,’ starring Zhang Yi, Yu Hewei, Qin Hailu, Zhu Yawen, Liu Haocun, Ni Dahong

May 4, 2021

by Carla Hay

Zhang Yi in “Cliff Walkers” (Photo courtesy of CMC Pictures)

“Cliff Walkers”

Directed by Zhang Yimou 

Mandarin with subtitles

Culture Representation: Taking place in early 1930s China, the dramatic film “Cliff Walkers” features an all-Asian cast representing the middle-class, wealthy and government spies.

Culture Clash: Four Communist spies, who are on a mission to rescue a former prisoner who witnessed war crimes by Japanese invaders, are betrayed by a traitor and try to stay alive during various deadly threats.

Culture Audience: “Cliff Walkers” will appeal primarily to people who are interested in riveting spy thrillers told from a historical Chinese perspective.

Liu Haocun in “Cliff Walkers” (Photo courtesy of CMC Pictures)

“Cliff Walkers,” the first spy movie from celebrated Chinese director Zhang Yimou, tells a captivating and thrilling tale (inspired by real events) of four Communist spies in 1931 China. The spies face life-threatening obstacles not only from their own ranks but also from the Japanese who invaded China during this time period. Much more than the usual “cloak and dagger” story about spies, “Cliff Walkers” has plenty of emotional resonance by realistically showing the heart-wrenching toll on the family lives of spies when these espionage agents go into this line of work.

“Cliff Walkers” (formerly titled “Impasse”) is the first feature-film screenplay from Quan Yongxian. He was previously a writer for the 2021 Chinese drama TV series “Cliff,” which was about spy couple working in Harbin, China. “Cliff Walkers,” which also takes place primarily in Harbin, is an apt title for the movie, since the main characters are constantly on the precipice of danger.

The suspense in this thriller doesn’t let up and will also keep viewers on edge. And although there’s some raw violence in the movie, this isn’t an over-the-top “Mission: Impossible”-styled spy flick where the spies also happen to be stunt masters. These espionage agents have to use their wits more than physical tricks to help them get out of predicaments.

Taking place in 1931, “Cliff Walkers” has a brief written intro explaining the historical context of what is going on while the story is happening. Japan has invaded China, resulting in secret camps where Chinese people are tortured. The puppet state Manchuku in China was controlled by the Japanese during this time period.

In the midst of this political and human-rights turmoil, four Chinese Communist Party (CCP) spies have returned to Manchuku from the Soviet Union. These four espionage agents are doing a secret mission called Operation Utrennya. The operation’s purpose is to rescue a former prisoner named Wang Ziyang, who escaped from the Japanese-operated killing grounds Beiyinhe in China that was evenutally bombed by the Japanese. Because of what he experienced and witnessed, Wang Ziyang could expose war crimes (such as human experimentation) committed by the Imperial Japanese Army’s Unit 731.

The four spies happen to be two couples: quick-thinking and empathetic leader Zhang Xianchen (played by Zhang Yi), a former journalist; Wang Yu (played by Qin Hailu), who is Zhang’s even-tempered wife; Chu Liang (played by Qin Hailu), who is younger and more impulsive than Zhang; and Xiao Lan (played by Liu Haocun), who is Chu’s chameleon-like girlfriend. In the beginning of the story, the four comrades have split into two groups, as decided by Zhang. Group 1 consists of Zhang and Lan. Group 2 consists of Yu and Liang.

During freezing snowy weather, their caper begins. And, of course, there are immediate problems. A betrayal within the CCP spy ranks leads to the deaths of certain people early on in the story. And this traitorous ambush sends Zhang and Lan on a frantic quest to Harbin, in order to warn Yu and Liang about the betrayal while also trying to stay alive. Meanwhile, a fellow CCP agent named Zhou Yi (played by Yu Hewei) has his loyalties tested, since he is embedded with the enemy.

It wouldn’t be a spy story without a chief villain. And in this story, the villain is Gao Bin (played by Ni Dahong), a sadistic enforcer of the Japanese invasion. He represents the type of citizen who will be a traitor if it means he will be in a position of power. The Chinese spies willing to fight for their country have poison pills (kept in a mtachbox) that play a signficant role in the story.

Adding to the drama, Zhang and Yu are separated from their two kids who have become wayward street urchins. Their daughter is 8 years old, while their son is about 5 or 6 years old. At one point in the movie, Zhang is told that the children were last scene begging near the Modern Hotel. It just so happens that the Modern Hotel is where Lan goes with soem trusted allies to hide out.

What makes “Cliff Walkers” different from many other spy movies is the heartbreaking storyline of two spy parents (Zhang and Yu) who have been separated from the children and are trying to reunite with them, while the parents also having to fulfill their government responsibilities in their line of work. If they abandon their jobs, they are at risk of being punished and perhaps permanently separated from ther children. It’s a stressful and life-threatening tightrope that’s pulled in man different directions throughout the story.

Zhang’s portrayal of the spy whos shares his name is one of courage and humanity. It’s not an overly flashy role, but there are action sequences where Zhang the spy shows impressive combat skills. Lan is the other character who has many physically challenging action scenes. Frequently, she is the only woman with any power in the room. And she uses that power wisely.

While making “Cliff Walkers,” director Zhang Yimou went for as much realism as possible. According to some production information from the movie’s U.S. publicist: “Historical locations in Harbin were 100% rebuilt just for the film, such as the city’s central street, Asia Cinema and Martyr Hotel which were completely recreated in 1930s style. Lead actor Zhang Yi grew up in Harbin and in fact lived on a street that was one of the rebuilt filming locations. During filming, he was able to find his parents’ old house there and video chatted them to show them how accurately recreated it was.” And the freezing, snowy weather wasn’t faked for the movie.

The accurate production design and the striking cinematopgraphy make “Cliff Walkers” an visually intriguing movie to watch. But the movie wouldn’t work as well, if not for the success it has at maintaining a tone of urgency and suspense, thanks to the absorbing screenplay and well-paced direction. “Cliff Walkers” is not a movie for people who are negatively triggered by scenes of violence and torture. But for people who can handle on-screen depictions of the realistic cruel inhumanity that’s inflicted during political oppression, then “Cliff Walkers” offers a compelling look that is filled with despair and hope, just like real life.

CMC Pictures released “Cliff Walkers” in select U.S. cinemas on April 30, 2021, the same day that the movie was released in China.

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