I almost failed to hold back my tears when watching "Go Away, Mr. Tumor." Other audience members were not so successful, throughout the film sobbing could be heard from various parts of the auditorium. But this film is not merely a tear jerker, from time to time the audience also erupted into fits of hearty laughter. They were celebrating the optimistic spirit of the dearly departed.
Director Han Yan's story about a young woman's battle against cancer is based on the final years of cartoonist Xiang Yao. Under the alias Xiong Dun, the girl created many amusing comic stories about the lives of modern Chinese women. Her last and most memorable work is "Go Away, Mr. Tumor," where she showed tremendous courage and optimism to win the respect of numerous internet users and celebrities. A few years later, her story has now been adapted into a movie script and played out by movie stars including Bai Baihe and Daniel Wu. A TV series is also on the way.
To offset the ominous implications of the subject and also to match Ms. Xiong's vigorous creativity as a cartoonist, the filmmakers spent generous sums on expensive special effects. The result is a comedy with a strong animation flavour. Scenes mimicking American zombie thriller "The Walking Dead" and South Korean chick flick "My Love from the Star" help us get a better look at the woman who remained fun and inspiring until the end of her days.
But the innovative styles of expression have also caused controversy. Many sober moviegoers, who seem untouched by the emotional rollercoaster ride, criticise such styles as random and incoherent. While I can totally agree with their sound judgment, my admiration mostly goes to their ability to stay unaffected by a highly manipulative story.
Perhaps those are people who have survived the lesson of loss or have learnt to cope with life's many challenges - good for them. But not everyone can quite face up to the fact that we all have to cross that finishing line at some point. Still weaker members of the human race must rely on borrowed strength and wisdom to sail through their daily struggles. Xiong Dun thought she could lend us a hand. "Now that I've had first-hand experience dealing with the grim reaper himself, I think I am qualified to counsel your guys about your lives," said the girl who left us three years ago. Today, on China's Facebook-like website Weibo where she posted her comic pictures, people still come to leave prayers or to seek courage and consolation.
Once again, Chinese actress Bai Baihe proves herself an excellent personality to charm moviegoers. She is only good for a narrow range of characters, but when she makes the right choice, even superstar Daniel Wu looks like a B-lister in her presence. As for other characters, well, let's say the film is more proof that age and experience speak louder than smooth skins and curvy bodies.
In a matter of weeks, many of us will probably forget about the tears we shed and resolutions we made as we watched "Go Away, Mr. Tumor," but if so much as a small percentage of us remember the feelings we had in the cinema, this film would have been well worth seeing.