Wuliang (2020)

The boundless promise.

Feng Ren is a Gushi/骨仕, an enigmatic, lethal sworn blade whose sole reason of existence is to protect the coveted Wuliang/无量/Boundless Heart Sutra. He intercepts a blind boy Po Xiao, who may just be a decoy or may be the true custodian of the Wuliang Heart Sutra and together, they flee the city. On their perilous journey they learn each others secrets. Underneath all the half-truths and deceptions between them, an inexplicable bond, an unspoken shared understanding and trust grows between then. For such a short length story, the actors' chemistry and the depth and complexity of emotions they conveyed shook me. Every twist deepens their bond and the boundless promise they make to each other. The important message of this story is that with great power, comes great responsibility. This is dark and heartbreaking wuxia but the break of dawn that pierces the darkness is blinding and immensely powerful.

Everything about this movie smacks of Guo Jingming's fabulous taste and hallmark aesthetics. If like me, you watch this after My Journey To You, it is quite clear that the drama expands upon many ideas in terms of style, plot and character design from this 37-minute movie. Feng Ren makes me think of Han Yasi and Po Xiao of Xue Gongzi. The narrative also explores how best to deal with a weapon of unaparallelled power. Due to its short length, the plot is tight with no unnecessary digressions and everything comes to a full circle at the end. It perfectly illustrates the power of a short story in how it captures the heart and the imagination with all that is left unsaid and untold. This is a simple, well executed plot that is a must watch and one that I am happy to rate 8.5/10.

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Chemistry for Miles

This is a slow burn, chemistry laden short film that grabs you from the moment it starts to the last finishing scene. There was not a dull or insignificant scene in Wuliang and I'm all the happier for it.

This is the same length as its predecessor Painted Skin, and features the same two leads wonderfully enough. The two main actors have some serious chemistry together and this is what truly brings forth the emotional performance. This could have easily been a full length, forty episode, wuxia drama but it still manages to deliver a solid experience within thirty minutes. The storyline is well done, easily followable, and concise. The plot is engaging and continues to move forward nicely while maintaining a semblance of mystery. Although this is a short film, the chemistry between the ML's felt like a slow burn and I could easily believe they built a bond over time. Nothing here felt too abrupt or empty. They sprinkled some action scenes into Wuliang too and they were well done without being cheesy. The acting is on point and very believable. I loved the difference in the characters here than in their previous film together. Their diversity is no joke and the emotional scenes here carry some heavy impact to them. Though the soundtrack is used less than the previous film, it is beautiful.

All in all, a good action and emotion based wuxia drama that will be sure to wrench your heart. I would recommend if you're looking for a concise but emotional watch.

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