This movie is much more inferior than Dwelling in Fuchun Mountain, the former picture of Gu Xiaogang, which is highly praised by critics. In Dwelling by the West Lake, everyone is yelling in an exaggerated way, making audiences very uncomfortable. The story is very conventional and the performance of actors is very bad. This is definitely not CINEMA. If you like Gu Xiaogang's former picture, you will be disappointed by the new one. It is a pity that China loses an important young firmmaker. If Gu Xiaogang continues to produce pictures like that, he will say goodbye to most of the important firm festivals.
4 Reviews
Way over the top.
Crimsonarmor20 April 2024
Dwelling By The West Lake fails to captivate with its uninspired storytelling and lackluster performances. The idea of pyramid selling, boiler rooms and chop shops has been around in Hollywood but here China is taking a stab at it. This could have been a good movie but the plot meanders aimlessly, leaving audiences disengaged and disinterested. Character development is shallow, making it difficult to invest in their journeys. Their performances are so over the top, any average Joe could have been cast to stand there simply screaming shouting and making odd facial expressions to pass off some sort of deep emotional acting. The cinematography, touted as a highlight, falls short, failing to evoke the beauty and majesty of the West Lake setting or the location which is Hangzhou. Overall, it's a forgettable cinematic experience that fails to leave a lasting impression or deliver any meaningful impact.
A Great way of combining art and real world social issue.
WarmSummer2112 March 2024
Have you ever had any family members being sucked into a pyramid scheme? This is a story about a nature-loving simple college student, walking the walk with his mother, seeking to find herself again. His mother becomes infatuated with the self-actualization that the pyramid scheme offers her; such a false sense of self-worth never felt before is unleashed and it becomes very hard to let go. Between hell and paradise, the film artistically juxtaposes the hell-like identification with commodification against the power of sincere love and serene nature. The female lead's highly dramatic acting is award winning. Leo Wu's lotus blossom like Wulian is worthy of the big screen.
His face, his being and the natural scenery is breathe-taking, while scenes from pyramid scheme will surprise and shock you. This film is definitely a departure from the director Guo Xiaogang's earlier film, an astounding artistic use of hellish commercial world and paradisiac serene nature. A Great way of combining art and real world social issue.
His face, his being and the natural scenery is breathe-taking, while scenes from pyramid scheme will surprise and shock you. This film is definitely a departure from the director Guo Xiaogang's earlier film, an astounding artistic use of hellish commercial world and paradisiac serene nature. A Great way of combining art and real world social issue.
The boy is good.
ligiakemil11 May 2024
Really full of explosive performances, literally. But this was clearly on purpose. The boy, Leo Wu, was more malleable than the main actress... His scenes in nature were wonderful and he seems to be familiar with some accent... His explosions were also more acceptable. I must say that Jiang Qinqin's acting was over the top in 70% of the movie and the director clearly wasn't that inspired with her... Or maybe he's just good at artistic shots but not at storytelling. I wanted more of the boy looking for his father than anything else... It would be a more interesting plot for me and suited to exploring Mulian's full potential.
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