2012-05-19

LOST:Zhou\'s Solidly Proffessional Return

Derek Elley is Chief Film Critic of Film Bussiness Asia. Elley has been writing about East Asian cinema for almost 40 years,especially Chinese-language films,and has arranged numerous seasons and tributes both in the UK, at London\'s National Film Theatre,and elsewhere, at Washington\'s American Film Institute. In 1998 he co-founded the Far East Film Festival in Udine, Italy, devoted to mainstream Asian cinema and he was senior film critic of U.S.-based entertainment trade paper Variety.

The first feature film by writer-director Zhou Xiaowen (Ermo, The Emperor\'s Shadow in 12 years), Lost gains much from a striking central performance in the title role by newcomer Wang Zitong, a student at Beijing\'s Central Academy of Drama. Wang takes a role that could have been cliched-an ever-optimistic rural innocent in the big city-and breathes life into it, putting on a convincing Shanxi village accent in the bargain. With an ingenuous front that masks an inner stubbornness, Wang\'s Baihe is utterly believable in all her moods-including a teeth-rattling scene of labour pains in a dormitory-and the young actress handles moments of both light comedy (a seduction by a rich gangster type) and street drama (an attempted abduction of her baby) with equal skill.

What this film\'s weakness is in building an overall dramatic arc: the script\'s episodic construction (the result of three years of research by Zhou into real-life stories) and interview format (with a below-par performance by veteran actress Lv Liping as the writer) work against the viewer\'s emotional involvement. A clever ending does, however, give some shape to the movie, as well as making succinct social points.

Aside from Wang and Lv, and an especially good performance by Zhao Yaqi as Baihe\'s best friend, the other roles are basically extended cameos. HD camerawork by Zhao Defeng is smooth and well-composed in exteriors, and Liu Cong\'s understated music adds occasional texture. Though it\'s way more modest than Zhou\'s earlier movies that established his name in the 1990s, Lost is a solidly professional return that could also announce a star of the future.