Dec 18 Weibo: Zhu Yilong’s role as Ye Ziyang in Embrace Again is shortlisted as Weibo Netizens’ Favourite Film Character of 2022, and Lighting Up the Stars is shortlisted as Weibo Netizens’ Favourite Film of 2022.
Hello friends, I am back here after a long hiatus to share my thoughts on Embrace Again/穿过寒冬拥抱你, which has gotten a very limited release here in UK.
If you follow Zhu Yilong’s career, you’d know about this one from trailers and a ton of cute little BTS footage depicting him as a scruffy looking piano teacher. If you don’t follow Zhu Yilong’s career…
Embrace Again is a semi-anthology movie set during the Covid-19 lockdown in Wuhan, or, in other words, the very definition of “too soon”.
The story, such as it is, follows the lives of city dwellers as the pandemic progresses. A-Yung (Huang Bo) is an idealistic Kungfu-loving delivery driver who becomes an official volunteer very early in lockdown, choosing to stay away from his family in favour of offering the city his support. As way of contrast, his colleague Wu Ge (stunning Jia Ling) just wants to earn some money, but along the way she accidentally meets piano teacher Ye (Zhu Yilong), and starts gradually opening up to new people and experiences under his subtle influence. While most of the movie centers around those people, we also get to know a married business couple Li Hongyu (Gao Yalin) and Liu Yalan (Xu Fan) who are struggling to find purpose outside of their work; as well as an elderly maternity ward doctor Xie Yongqin (Wu Yanshu) who is determined to join the front line despite blooming romance in her life.
While the film is officially classed as a romantic comedy here, likely to appear to be somewhere in the same vein as Love Actually, it’s not that. The topic of love and romance is certainly present in the storylines, but they are not in focus as much as community is. As for how much of it is a comedy, while there are certainly chuckle-worthy moments, this is more or less a film that requires waterproof eye makeup. And tissues. Many many tissues. I don’t want to dive deep into the plot, as spoilers would definitely detract from the experience of watching this film, but suffice it to say that while the general feeling of it is one of heart-warming tenderness, it also dishes out micro and macro tragedies.
If you ask me what I thought the strength of the film was, I would point out how beautifully detailed all the characterisations are. The script delivers strong dialogue, pacing character development in the most effective way for every single main player; there is wonderful attention to detail when it comes to creating those people, from styling, to sets, to direction for individual scenes. As you watch the film you genuinely feel like you get to know those people: their strengths, weaknesses, values, all the little things that make them real and flawed. It was so lovely and refreshing to see a film where people just… look like people. Performances are very strong across the board, too, so much so that I would struggle to single out any particular cast member in order to praise them.
There are however aspects to the visual storytelling of the movie which did not always work for me. I can understand a certain level of pathos that would accompany a film such as this, but there were a few individual scenes at the later part of it which felt incredibly ungraceful compared to the quiet low-key nuance most of the film shows.
That said, my main complaint, once again, has to do with the way the story is structured. I really do wish that the tapestry of all of those individual narratives was woven a little tighter, and more evenly paced between the storylines. As it happens, the focus remains squarely on the two delivery drivers, leaving narratives with the least connection to them, beautiful thought they were, feeling somewhat tagged-on. I liked that they were all introduced on the same day, that being first day of lockdown (coinciding with the New Year) for them all, having a clear point where they unwittingly cross paths, but even that lacked certain consistency. Considering how much elegance the character narratives were handled individually, I really wish they the film was more tightly structured as a whole.
All in all, and despite my criticism, I did enjoy this film a great deal. It made me very pensive, and I keep returning mentally to this or that scene that touched me. This film really is a kaleidoscope of deeply moving moments.
I don’t think there is anyone out there whose life was not affected by the pandemic; we are probably going to live with this collective trauma for a very long time, and Embrace Again offers a wonderfully cathartic way of processing some of that.
P.S.
Because I know you are probably wondering, Zhu Yilong’s part in the film is a relatively small one, but it did offer a few places for him to showcase his acting. His Teacher Ye is a very warm but somewhat recluse intellectual; and his presence on screen is as wonderful as it ever is. There is a tenderness to him here that is very precious to see. I still find it deeply amusing that this man in his early thirties keeps playing people in their forties, but at least here he is styled well to suit the part.
