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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Short... but so sweet!

Story: Back story and world building was mostly through narration, but for a period drama and with such short time frame, it was good enough. And the back story was interspersed with scenes that made the plot move.

Acting/Cast: The two mains were really good. I don't know if they are veteran actors, but the way their eyes and voice projects their character's emotions and inner struggle. They are really good, even on par to those Cdrama actors in a Cdrama with a lot of funding.

Music: The ending ost is ok. Maybe because the film is short that is why there is no time for the OST to hit on me like other c-period drama had done.

Rewatch Value: Because it is short and has complete story, I will surely re-watch this in the future.

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Best Short Bromance/friendship Movie I've every seen

I watched it and I fell in love with it ,, it was so good so powerful and the ending made me cry but in happiness
I felt the emotions so Raw ,, I felt their Bromance so strong ,, The final scene left me in tears of joy
I even subbed it to my own language Arabic and post it on Facebook to my friends and a lot have seen it and fell in love with it as I did
My only hope those two amazing actors can make another Bromance drama they will beat the Untamed , word of honor and all these amazing dramas just by their performance
very highly recommended in your free time just half an hour of enjoyment

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WOW

Im shook and in the best way. This short movie is absolutely stunning, very high quality for the length. The story has a few wtf moments but overall they keep it very tight and there really are no filler scenes, everything has a purpose that pushes the story forward. There were a few moments that I had to rewatch the movie to fully understand but I blame that more on translation gap and fast moving subtitles. Overall, the actors had AMAZING chemistry, they fit their roles perfectly and even tho they are only on screen for a short while, they really feel like they went through a lot together. Seriously wish this was a longer more fleshed out movie or drama as there is SOOOO much to unpack in what little is shown. I'm already obsessed and started doing a full breakdown of the entire mini movie to help better understand it.

Watch it if you haven't seen it! You won't regret it.

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I have strong, conflicted emotions right now, after finishing it. On one hand, it was such a beautiful and well done movie, I don’t think it could have been improved in any way. On the other hand, I cannot stop thinking about the potential this story had to be a drama.

The writing got me on a few plot twists that I didn't see coming. Some bigger, some smaller, but all executed quite well. With a limited screen time, they did a good job at giving enough exposition to ground you in the story, but not waste time on unnecessary details. The characters were interesting, and surprisingly I got attached to them quite fast. The chemistry and the switching dynamics and testing each other between Po Xiao and Feng Ren was perfect and by the end of the movie, I craved for me.

It’s definitely worth talking about the visual aspect of Wuliang - it was an aesthetic feast. Even if the plot was not as interesting, I would still finish the movie without skipping a second just to appreciate the beauty of it. The background music perfectly enhanced the atmosphere the visuals created.

The acting was also amazing. I felt everything the characters felt. Well, sometimes I went on more of an anger ride, when they felt sad, but that’s given. The emotional delivery was quite detailed. Nothing to complain about.

Overall, I highly recommend watching. It’s an old tale of “with great power comes great responsibility”, but it focuses more on the characters, building trust and understanding each other's motives, while trying to survive.

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37 minute Film Better Written Than Some Series

Was recommended this by a friend and as I have seen MJTY recently so have become aware of GJM's writing and direction style. Only 37 minutes told the story of two lives and how they became intertwined due to fate. The leads felt their characters deeply and it showed on screen. And there was a proper ending, which was nice. You felt everything one should feel in the dark settings but also hope in the future or at the end rather. Enemies to friends, then protection, facing adversity together, making a sacrifice for the other's safety. But not all is what it seems as the at the end reunion was made even more important and special.

Would I recommend it? Absolutely. As mentioned above, just 37 minutes was written and acted better then some series with double the episode count.

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It’s a short film. it’s about a blind guy, Po Xiao (Played by Ding Cheng Xin) who has a cultivation manual (the heart sutra) tattooed on his body which make people are trying to capture him. So the other guy, Feng Ren (played by He Chang Xi), he's trying to protect Po Xiao. Love the way Feng Ren protect Po Xiao. T.T *cries*
So, the whole plot is basically the two of them running away and then some heartbreaking stuff happens, and then more heartbreaking stuff happens, but they get a happy ending at the end.
This movie is actually the second time these two actors acted together, which is great because their chemistry is freaking lit. And the director for this movie is Guo Jingming, who also the director of the Yin-Yang Master: Dream of Eternity, L.O.R.D: Legend of Ravaging Dynasties and Painted Skin: The Guo Jingming Edition as well.

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Short, Strong and on Point.

Future Chinese dramas can take a leaf out of this one. With only 37 minutes, it managed to convey a lot of emotions. This should've been atleast an hour long. I loved both Po Xiao and Feng Ran a lot. I liked how the two different contrasting characters learnt to trust each other. The basic plot is very Wuxia. It would've had so much potential and been a good one. My only complaint is that everything was so rushed! Skip a sentence and you don't know where the story is heading.
The cast was the highlight - they acted their hearts out. I hurt for Feng Ran and Po Xiao. It was so realistically portrayed! Kudos to them! I hope to see them in future works.
Overall, I really enjoyed it. Definitely worth a watch.

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A splendid way to spend your time!

Wuliang is a movie I watched knowing nothing about what it was going to be like. I didn't read the blurb and kind of expected it to be like the actors' and director's previous work - Painted Skin.

Though the aesthetics of both the movies were slightly similar, the story and cinematography of Wuliang much exceeded my expectations that were set by Painted Skin.

Let's start off praising the acting. Both the leads have proved to be amazing actors through this short movie because of how emotionally taxing it is to the watchers. To be able to have the viewers of the movie connect to the characters in such a short time frame is not an easy task and the actors were amazing in that aspect. The chemistry they portrayed, their smiles, their caution, their decisions, and their actions... everything proved their worthiness of playing the roles they did and I am so glad it was THEM and not someone else.

The story itself seems a bit basic, but it couldn't have been more concise and wonderful! It wasn't hard to understand and it keeps one engaged and pulls them into the plot. Not knowing what a character would do next or why they were acting the way they were would obviously have the audience waiting to know more. I can't say much for the script because I feel like the translation I have read isn't too accurate, but I can decipher the intensity of it through the actions of the characters. The music and production, the fights, all of them fit the story so well and I can't stress upon this fact enough!

The pacing was just fine. It wasn't slow nor was it rushed. The only aspect of the movie that could have been better (not that it's very necessary) is that we could have gotten at least a few more mins to explain Feng Ren's (one of the main leads) back story a bit more... maybe not in words but in the form of flashbacks. Apart from that, I don't think this is a plot that can have any plot holes, and it was near perfect!

A must watch! At least give it a try... it is very short and most won't regret watching it.

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Hm...

Watch this because many recommend to me this movie. Quite wondering how good is this until that many person write this as recommendation.

Actually the story itself quite confusing to me. I don't quite understand the meaning behind it. Because once again it just short movie, so the duration really limited. Really hope this can be at least full length movie instead the short one like this.

OK what I like about this drama:
+ We can feel the vibe of the 'friendship' between our main lead. Their chemistry also good.
+ The story really direct due to the short duration.

Overall this just another short movie to fill ur time...

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"A promise is a promise"

wow. this film is short but very fruitful. there were so many layers of angst and beauty in this 37 minute piece. i don't think i've ever seen a short film done this well.

po xiao and feng ren had a relationship so precious that it can't be put into words. the cute but almost silent bantering, the worry of losing the other and the absolute willingness to risk it all for the sake of the other. the fact that i got attached to these characters so fast was unbelievably real.

i have so much appreciation to everyone involved in this production because damn, the visuals and aesthetics were STUNNING. the cast truly killed it in the best way and the chemistry was off the roof. i can find myself writing fanfics about the characters because of how good the acting was. the music was really good and fitting whether it be a suspenseful or emotional scene. ALSO ohmy, the fighting scenes.

one thing i like about this movie was how the story was not overly complex. there were no side plots. the focus was centered around po xiao and feng ren which made the writing for their characters feel more natural. the conversations between the leads were all important to tell their story.

overall, a very well done short film that gets you riled up with so much emotions. prepare to cry. the tears are worth it. i promise.

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