The Equation of Love and Death
I have seen many great films before I left for Atlanta, and I couldn’t force myself to blog about any of them, especially not this one. I prefer this film over Xu Jinglei’s “Letter from an Unknown Woman”, and I believe that means something. This film is not stylish at all, it isn’t exactly well directed and it follows a simple storyline with no subtle or smart story twists. I agree with the critics that objectively the best trait of this film might just as well be Zhou Xun’s acting (but really, most of the other actors in this film were good too!), because there is nothing outstanding or breathtakingly new about the film. There might be many people who find this sort of love story unrealistic and exaggerated, there even are people who downright didn’t understand the story although it is actually rather simple. What the heck.
To me, all these aspects don’t matter as much, because the film was nothing but a pleasant surprise. I have expected some weird artsy story with a main character on the search for her boyfriend à la Waiting for Godot ending pointlessly like Broken Flowers. I have not seen a love story as unconditional and utterly strong ever since Takeshi Kitano’s Dolls. Love might be something different for everybody, but if I had to give an example of what I think ideal love is, then it’s concentrated in this film: A feeling that elevates simple people to something that is very human and inhuman at the same time. This story is not very much related to the circumstances, and it could happen to everybody, or rather it can represent anybody because love is something you can no matter what kind of social standing you are attributed to. Love is in some ways inherent to human nature, there are just certain people who are able to love in a certain way, other who love in another way, and again others who are completely incapable of love, but this is independently from the environment. The only thing the environment does is to shape the way your love manifests itself, and “The Equation of Love and Death” shows a manifestation that I have a very strong personal bond to.
Recommending “The Equation of Love and Death” would be like recommending “The Unbearable Lightness of Being” – that is what the movie is, and probably not much more. Nevertheless: Watch it!