Ocean Heaven

(2010) Ocean Haven/ Ocean heaven/ Ocean Paradise (In Mandarin with English subtitles) DRAMA

As a fan of Jet Lee or Jet Li's martial art movies, this is quite a transition for him, but at the same time I was never a fan of movies about people suffering from down syndrome or people with mental disorder films since they're the easiest thing to do if anyone were to become an actor as I always thought even before seeing Lars Von Trier's controversial film "The Idiots" saying that it involves more peculiar movements and less thinking dialogue. Besides "The Idiots", the only other films that demand recognition in terms of less dialogue acting roles are probably "The Miracle Worker" with Anne Bancroft and "My Left Foot" which their minds are intact but their bodies are not. The reason I say this is because everybody regardless who you're can act or verbally talk irresponsibly and carelessly once in awhile including me. Therefore, down syndrome or other mental disorder films can on some level or another can be an everyday occurrence and is not hard to do saying that anyone can do it- just be self absorbed, selfish and inconsiderate of others while allowing others to help you. Anyways, I had to see this movie because I like Jet Lee and stereotypical I did not know he can be in a drama film. The film is written and directed by Xue Xiao Lu, which may be a personal film based on actual experiences. At the beginning, Jet Lee as Wang Xingchang or as the characters in the movie call him Old Wang ties a rope to his son's leg along with his while sitting on a boat for it's very evident that his teenage son doesn't have any normal tendencies. Old Wang jumps into the water from his boat for the intention of killing himself as well as his only teenage son his name is Dafu. We assume at this point that it's one of those movies which the beginning is the end. But that is not the case at all for his son, Dafu saves him since he must be an excellent swimmer. The next scene has both of them coming into their apartment, and are not wet anymore but smell quite badly as acknowledged by his young female next door neighbor who's just stopping by to drop off some eats. And it was at this point he reveals to the audience that his son is autistic. That the reason he was attempting to kill himself by means of drowning along with his son was because he is dying of cancer for his son is unable to take care of himself and felt that it would be unfair to him if he couldn't get the proper care that he needs. Now because the setting takes place somewhere China, we get to witness some of the customs regarding how autistic people are treated in some areas. For instance, Old Wang is allowed to take his son to work which is maintaining the 'ocean resort' which includes janitorial and electrical, while his son is allowed to swim in the pool with the sea animals which is where he learned to become a great swimmer. This movie makes the possibility that although it's possible to take your child with you when you go to work, it's not possible to find the proper care he needs if that person happens to be the only parent who can look after him and that it'll be much harder if that specific parent is not around anymore. What I liked about this film is that it's not so much about the son as much as it's about whether or not one can find the proper care for him if anything were to happen to the parent which can be any parents dilemma. For it's generally harder to look after someone who is mentally disabled than it would be to look after a cat or a dog which owners don't have to worry too much about them all the time in comparison to a child who's suffering from mental disabilities. What prevented me to like this film even more is the expected cliché scenes of Old Wang training his autistic son to cook for himself and so forth... for it's different with each person and in my opinion didn't need it since the gov't can also provide some of the help too.

When "Ocean Heaven" was released, it got great critical acclaim and positive word of mouth. I finally got to watch it, and it surpassed my expectations. There are a few films depicting autistic characters that I have watched, and this film has the most accurate and consistently convincing portrayal. Either the guy playing Dafu is really autistic, or he is a really good actor. The story tells how the father prepares his autistic soon to live independently. The father's unconditional love for his child, his unlimited patience and unrelenting care is very respectable. Anyone will be touched by him. The film also depicts the lives of ordinary citizens, with real problems, adding realism to the touching plot. I hope this great film will find a wider audience, because it deserves to be seen and appreciated.

It is hard to go from primarily western films to this, especially when so much of my context for asian cinema is in the action and kung fu or shootouts. Add to this learning that a woman director's first film, made it surprising because the film is so masterful. Of course she was bringing the most powerhouse collaborators from some of the best films of all time, the pedigree comes off like a wishlist of a film student, if asked, what would your dream movie would be like... Joe Hisaishi... Christopher Doyle... and a world renowned star subverting their whole persona. The thing is, nine times out of ten this is going to be a recipe for a disaster, and the film will fail. It will be too obvious, or too boring.

Why it works is because the tone is just right, it is both understated but stylized, the performances hits the exact right notes start to finish. I found Ocean Heaven refreshing in a timeless way, that even when I view acclaimed arthouse films of today from international directors, you know those ones that win all the awards, I do not really connect to them. They're too self-important, political, or cliche. Point is, it is difficult to achieve the right mix of elements in the voodoo process of filmmaking, something this film achieves.

That brings me to the reason everyone would talk about this, that is Jet Li's performance. If you have seen the dozens of films with him doing Kung Fu, you would not realize what a tremendous actor he is. It is unbelievable his most impressive feat is not the karate, but playing a father. He displays so much sensitivity and resilience at once. He is able to evoke a cinematic father that is impossible not to think about your own. Every gesture is elevating this movie into something far more meaningful than its modest tone. You could not imagine the movie with any other actor than Li and his son, played by Zhang When. The performance is like a masterpiece painting, from a source you didn't realize was there all along, you go of course, he is a man obsessed with excellence. I could not view his other films the same way after this, so I give props to the director for seeing what no one else saw.

I always been a great fan of jet Li and the martial arts cinema and this film just prove something that I knew for long time, how great actors some martial artists can be. but beyond the amazing performance of jet Li, this movie is a beautiful story about a terminally ill father and his autistic son, and how the real love is beyond everything even death...the performance of the rest of the cast is perfect,specially wen zhang, who plays jet Li's son, his performance is brilliant, this guy is going to be a star.All the cast shines on this beautiful tale.this is the kind of stories that make cinema so great and in my opinion this film is much better movie than any of the nominees to best picture movie of this year...

The marketing for this film went into overdrive with its touting of this being action star Jet Li's first dramatic role. Unless you count his appearance in a non combative role in Founding of a Republic and the various attempts to balance his action status with more dramatic acting chops such as Danny the Dog, then Ocean Heaven will be that maiden effort. Written and directed by Xue Xiao Lu, this modest effort is by no means small in ambition, having the likes of Jay Chou and Kwai Lun Mei lend their vocals to separate title tracks (with Kwai also starring in the film), as well as being lensed by the renowned Christopher Doyle.

Jet Li stars as Wang, a middle aged technician at Qingdao's Ocean World who discovers that his liver cancer is at its 4th stage, and a medical death sentence has been passed, giving him 3 to 4 months to live. His prime concern will be that of his autistic son Da Fu (Wen Zhang) because this means as the main caregiver, he has to find an able, trusted replacement, most likely an institution, but as any single parent can attest to, this effort is none too easy in the absence of direct family support, with places like mental institutions being totally out of place, and Da Fu being too old for an orphanage, and too young for a senior citizens' home. The film opens with a father-son suicide, only for the latter to inexplicably save the both of them, and bringing them back to the drawing board.

It's interesting to note (at least for me) that the Chinese language term for Autism is "Gu Du Zheng" which directly translates to a condition of loneliness. Through the film, Wang cannot shake off the fact that this figuratively applies to him, being alone in his care of his teenage son for many years since the passing of his wife, and not wanting to impose his troubles and issues on others, such as his neighbour and provision shop owner (Zhu Yuanyuan) who undoubtedly has affections for Wang himself. Wang is the classical stoic Chinese man who bottles up his troubles, seeking instead to source for solutions himself than to rely on the graces of others, although help does come from an understanding boss, as well as Da Fu's school principal.

Xue spends considerable screen time in outlining the father-son relationship, albeit that it's not quite the norm because communication almost always seem like a one way street. Wang, with his limited, time, wants to train Da Fu in performing simple tasks in looking after himself, from cooking to taking the public bus, and through many of these scenes, Xue has allowed for an awareness of autism to ring through without resorting to over-reliance on melodrama to do so. Tasks are to be explained with extreme patience, and knowledge imparted through constant rote learning and praising. It's not easy, but as any parent, this unconditional love is something that's quite innate.

Both Jet Li and Wen Zhang share great chemistry, which helps make their individual performance credible. You'll for once feel as exasperated as Li since this time he cannot kung-fu kick his way out of challenges and troubles, and have to rely on perseverance and love to educate his son. You'll feel his pain, and share his pessimism and slim hopes that he'll be able to impart, delegate and leave behind enough for his son not only material wealth, but emotional stability as well, which comes in the form of a sea turtle motif, known for its longevity, Wen Zhang too has this child like quality in his portrayal of autism which endears, and is able to bring out the confusion, fear and anger when he is not understood by others.

The only peculiar performance here will be that of Kwai Lun Mei's Ling Ling, whose role is that of a clown who juggles. I can't place her role anywhere other than to solely beef up the star attraction to this film, because her role and the subplots involving her character all seem a little out of place and useless, and can be done without. Perhaps it is just there to balance that sense of bleak from Wang's point of view, since scenes between Ling Ling and Da Fu mostly hinges on play and friendship, providing that lift to the audience, unbeknownst to Wang, that his son is capable of making new, genuine friends, and that he need not worry that Da Fu will eventually be alone in this world after Wang's own passing.

I won't say this is a tearjerker, but there will be those who will inevitably be touched by Father's love, going by the amount of sniffles in the cinema hall. I suppose Jet Li's foray into a purely dramatic role is quite successful, although personally I can't wait to see him kick serious ass in The Expendables with an ensemble cast of action heroes where he belongs. But of course one can't go on forever in such a role. Maybe he too can adopt the Jackie Chan direction (I'm pretty sure they would have exchanged notes during their pairing in The Forbidden Kingdom) where a film role balancing drama and action is possible ala Chan's Little Big Soldier, or even following what Clint Eastwood is doing in going behind the camera to tell heartfelt stories.