The Aftershock

Film. Directed by Feng Xiaogang is one of the most successful Chinese directors.
The movie is about an earthquake that happen in summer 1976 in a town/city named Tangshan.
The movie narrates the story of a Truck driver, whose name is Fang Dajiang and his wife LI NI and their children a son and a daughter. This family lives an ordinary happy life. Fang due to his work is often away from home, one day, he comes home from work and his children are happy to see him.Later the kids fall asleep and their parents decided to go to the truck where after talking and enjoying themselves they do fall asleep. Suddenly, a very strong earthquake, Fang and his wife tried to get to their children but they can’t. The shaking is so strong that crumble down buildings and opens huge gaps on the ground. Fang dies trying to reach his children. Fang Teng and Fonda (the kids) are so afraid they call their parents for help but before they know it they fall down under tons of debris pressing them down. After the earthquake, rescuers began digging through the debris in search of survivors. According to the rescuers only one of the kids could be saved, and mother has to choose one of her kids to save. Not an easy decision for someone who just had lost her husband but she chooses to save her son, not knowing that her daughter was listening to her conversations with the rescuers. Fonda was left behind. Her mother thought that she had passed with her daddy, but she didn’t. She survived, and a couple of military officers adopt her. But her mother doesn’t know that did survived and she thought that she was buried with the hundreds of people who lost their lives that night.
I am not going to continue telling you about it, hopefully, you can see it. Though it is very bad translated, it is a good movie!!
This movie can be use in the classroom to show how the Asian’s treat their dead. The movie shows the altar that Fonda’s mother kept an altar with both her husband and daughter’s portraits and their favorite food. Also, about the pain and sorrow that people goes through when a natural disaster hits a city/country and the importance to have a plan in case of an emergency.
edited by edelafuente on 11/27/2016