[Review] Lost In The Stars (6/10) {Xiao Shi De Ta}

 

Title - Lost In The Stars {Xiao Shi De Ta}
Production - Beijing Tianhua Huawen Motion Picture Investment Co., Beijing Weimeng Chuangke Network Technology
Starring - Zhi Yi Long, Ni Ni, Janice Man, Kay Huang, Jiang Du
Writer - Chen Si Cheng, Gu Shu Yi, Aleksey Korenev
Director - Cui Rui, Liu Xiang
Release - 23 June 2023

Lost In The Stars, the title sounds more like a romance genre than what this movie was really about. And the trailer did quite a good job in making the viewer think this was darker in tone, too.

But what we actually got from two directors who are quite new to feature films was a commendable mystery that had some questionable direction in parts.

Set in "Southeast Asia", as if these 10 countries can be grouped together into one, but that's what the characters kept saying, like "This is Southeast Asia". The people they used as secondary characters were Thais, but any writings to describe buildings and places were all in Indonesian. And seemed like the locals of "Southeast Asia" all spoke English and Chinese. Smart or silly, I'll leave that to you to decide. 

What the directors had going for them was a very impressive performer in Zhu Yi Long, who gave the main character a lot of layers and emotions; and more importantly, the audience believed him and followed him on this journey.

I thought the directors, Cui Rui and Liu Xiang were competent in building up the mystery and slowly peeling away at the layers to reveal the plot's twists and turns. However, there were questionable decisions with some scenes that did not appear to be natural. I'm talking about the dinner by the beach where the "husband" had to figure out the lies of the "wife". The opening of that scene was shaky with a friendly smile that should not have been there, to the background Tango music; all of it felt too staged.

Then there were a couple of ensemble shots, like a group of people walking towards the camera, that still fell into the cheesy territory. Once again, and unfortunately, proving that this is a skill that the Chinese movies still haven't yet learned - wanting to look cool but always ended up being cheesy. And this is because we grew up with making cool in the cheese context ever since the 80's. 

Also, treating the audience as incompetent because the editor or the directors could not find a better way to create excitement through a sequence; really is just highlighting the incompetence in movie making. The beginning of a car chase sequence showed the two lead actors jumping into the car. A quick cut to a shot of the driver's hand shifting the gear from P to D because the car is automatic, quick cut to a scene showing the car moving forward and making a sharp turn. But because the car was an auto, there was another quick cut of the driver's hand, shifting the gear from P to D again! And then another quick cut to see the car moving away. Why not just shoot the interior in a manual car so that you can show a proper gear change?

And when these scenes did not, and could not, blend in properly with the overall mystery tone of the movie; they looked and felt even worse. 

I managed to guess the mastermind somewhere in the second act already. And I don't expect all mystery movies to be like a Rian Johnson or Kenneth Branagh's whodunit, so if the ending is able to tie up all loose ends, it's good enough for me.

But luckily, Ni Ni and Janice Man also gave solid performances. And luckily, the script came together quite believably in the end (thought the time frame to pull off such a stunt, again, very questionable). So, it was good enough a movie to sit through in the cinema and be entertaining.