"The Breaking Ice": Romance flick wows local audiences
From left: Actors Qu Chuxiao, Liu Haoran, Zhou Dongyu and director Anthony Chen.
The long-awaited romance film "The Breaking Ice" hit cinemas across China on Tuesday.
The film’s Singaporean director Anthony Chen and Chinese mainland actors Zhou Dongyu, Liu Haoran and Qu Chuxiao attended the film’s special screening at UME International Cineplex in Shanghai.
Set to the backdrop of winter in the border city of Yanji in northeast China's Jilin Province, the film portrays blossoming relationships, restless youth and the maturing of three young adults. When it premiered at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, the film received positive feedback from critics and audiences, with some critics giving high marks for its warmth and depth.
At Tuesday’s event, the director and the cast revealed their original intention in making the film and unknown stories behind the scenes.
The film's special screening at UME International Cineplex drew a big crowd.
Actress Zhou Dongyu plays the leading role in the film.
"I learned from platforms like Douban and Bilibili that everyone needs to express their emotions," said director Chen when talking about why he made the film.
“The three protagonists in the movie are confused, restless and somewhat mentally ill, but at the end of this healing journey they reconcile with themselves.”
According to actress Zhou, what impressed her most in the film was the scene where her character speaks on the phone with her mother.
“At that moment, I felt that the character truly reconciled with her past and dared to face life instead of running away,” she observed.
Actor Qu said that at the end of the movie, his character is no longer a person who has no enthusiasm for life and is content with the status quo.
Actress Jiang Shuying, a fan of Chen's films and film-making style, loved the movie.
“The film is not necessarily about burning anything around us,” she commented. “It’s more like a thaw, and companionship has a great healing power.”
Movie buffs hold an exchange with the film's cast after the screening.
