After being sluggish for nearly two months, the domestic movie market is seeing a glimmer of hope with momentum propelled by the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, which has proved to be a lucrative box-office period in recent years.

Topped by the disaster blockbuster Cloudy Mountain, the holiday — lasting from September 19-21 — attracted millions of moviegoers, bringing in a total of nearly 500 million yuan ($77.4 million) to boost the sector’s morale.

A touching tale which reflects the Chinese people’s courage and unity while facing a catastrophe, Cloudy Mountain has grossed over 315 million yuan since it opened on September 17, signaling a new chapter for Chinese disaster films — a rarely explored genre.

Starring Huang Zhizhong as a retired soldier and Zhu Yilong as a geologist, also a father and son, the fictional story begins with a water leak in a tunnel which is scheduled to be completed following a decade of construction. Caused by the unusual movement of a tectonic plate, more geological disasters occur, varying from an earthquake to several landslides.

Director Li Jun’s Cloudy Mountain pays homage to those who risked their lives to construct railways in some of the most far-flung areas in China

With their experience and professional knowledge, the two protagonists join forces to rescue several survivors stranded in an underground cave. The journey takes a more dangerous turn after they volunteer to install explosives that will prevent a massive rockslide which threatens the lives of around 160,000 residents of a nearby town.

For director Li Jun, a veteran known for the 2016 crime blockbuster Tik Tok and the 2018 popular TV series Peace Hotel, the film’s idea came from his desire to explore the relationship between nature and people.

Last year, the 55-year-old director had to stay in the UK for around seven months as a result of the global Covid-19 outbreak, providing him with ample time to dive into archival material and documentaries about natural disasters.

“The conflict between people and a natural disaster, always a powerful ‘villain’, makes you feel a power and strength barely created by other genres of films, thus making me very interested in shooting a disaster film,” says Li.

After entrusting his assistants to conduct field investigations around the country, Li decided to shoot the major scenes in Shuanghe in Southwest China’s Guizhou province — the longest cave in Asia, which extends around 240 kilometers.

Aside from some scenes shot in a town in Zunyi, Guizhou, filming in the cave — which has several underground rivers — was conducted over 107 days earlier this year, with an average of more than 300 crew members and actors working on set. At the peak, there were more than 1,100 people in the cave.

“Sometimes we had to trek for a long time to get to the entrance of the cave, and then climb around one-and-a-half hours to reach the film sets. Even as a hiking enthusiast, eventually I was fed up with such an ‘adventure’,” recalls the director.

“It was my first time shooting a film in a cave. With limited light and other geological conditions, we encountered a lot of hurdles and challenges during filming. The good thing was that our cast was able to act more convincingly and realistically, thanks to the immersive environment,” he adds.

When the movie rolls to the end, some clips of old documentaries are screened, featuring soldiers of the railway corps of the People’s Liberation Army, a special subdivision which were devoted to the construction of New China’s early railway network.

Originally formed in 1945, the corps — with the number of its personnel exceeding 500,000 at one point — ended its service in 1984, and all the soldiers and officers were transferred to work at the Ministry of Railways.

Li reveals that his other impetus behind the film was to pay a tribute to those who risked their lives to construct railways in some of the most far-flung and geographically challenging areas in China.

Actor Zhu revealed at the Beijing premiere earlier this month that he, alongside actor Huang, went through an intense training period to ensure their free-climbing techniques looked convincing and realistic. Additionally, the crew spent 80 days constructing a 200-metre-long replica of a real-life tunnel, adds the director.

Some of China’s most advanced technologies, ranging from the Beidou Navigation Satellite System to the 5G high-speed network, are also shown in the film as pivotal plot devices, providing weather forecasts and aiding rescue operations.

In spite of the box-office bonanza, the film has received mixed reviews with the major criticising voices centring on several “overly sentimental” scenes.

“The movie employs a commercial genre to touch on the rarely featured subject of Chinese veterans dedicated to railway construction. Coupled with the arresting visual effects, the tale would be fresh and appealing if not for some plot holes that create distractions,” comments one user of Douban, one of the country’s most popular reviewing sites.

By arrangement with The China Daily

Published in Dawn, ICON, October 10th, 2021