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by Xinhua writer Zhang Yunlong
BEIJING, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- "My first thought after watching this movie was that I really hope it can be shown around the world, which I think will help many people better understand what Chinese people are like and how we have survived."
Appearing close to tears, Xu Zheng, a renowned filmmaker, made the remarks while commenting on "Days and Nights in Wuhan" -- the first Chinese documentary film on the battle against COVID-19, which formally hit theaters on Jan. 22.
Jan. 23 last year saw Wuhan, a transportation hub in central China, suspend outbound channels to prevent the spread of the pathogen. In a mounting battle against COVID-19, the city's 9 million local residents had tens of thousands of health professionals and other experts from across the country come to their aid.
"Days and Nights in Wuhan," directed by Cao Jinling, was based on thousands of hours of footage from the front lines of the battle against the virus taken by more than 30 local photographers over a period of several months in the city.
Through focusing on medical staff and patients in the intensive care units as well as volunteers transporting pregnant women late at night, the documentary has been referred to as a true, though far from full, account of ordinary people from various walks of life joining hands to fight the deadly epidemic.
One of the most-mentioned moments that brought moviegoers to tears is near the film's end: a medic apologizes repeatedly when handing over the belongings of a deceased patient, who the doctors had tried in vain to save, to her next of kin, who at the same time repeats her gratitude for the medics' efforts.
"It isn't overly sentimental, and by showing the reality of the situation its emotional impact is only heightened," wrote internet user Kiki in a post on review platform Douban, echoing posts on other online platforms like Weibo and Maoyan. "The pain should never be forgotten, but we still need to look forward."
"All the characters are ordinary people in Wuhan, yet when disaster struck, they all bravely chose to make their way to the front lines," said a Weibo user. "Now we can calmly sit and watch this movie, free from the anxiety and dread of the first few months of the outbreak, because we know there are many people, just like those shown in the film, protecting us."
Hubei Province, of which Wuhan is the capital, has effectively tamed the epidemic, reporting no new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases since May 18 last year, according to officials. The province's gross domestic product in 2020 recovered to over 95 percent of the previous year's level.
The film serves as a true account of the real-life people who lived through the epidemic, and their stories contain so much life and death that there is no need for any dramatization to make the film resonate with the audience, said Yin Hong, vice chairman of the China Film Association and a renowned film critic.
As of Friday, the eighth day of its screening, the documentary's box office had reached 21 million yuan (around 3.25 million U.S. dollars), shy of the commonly accepted threshold for a blockbuster film. However, it garnered a respectable rating of 7.7 out of 10 on Douban.
For moviegoers, their tears and applause are in essence not for the film itself but for the glory of humanity demonstrated by the people in Wuhan in facing COVID-19.
A Douban user, while calling the film's storytelling and editing "very average," dedicated a full five-star rating to the resilient people in locked-down Wuhan: "We bid farewell to many people in 2020, while others like me survived. How dare we not live well?" Enditem
