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Indie Movie Review: Back To The Wharf

 Written by Joe Compton


An escaped convict who was serving time for negligent homicide returns to his hometown after 15 years, but he is haunted by his past and gets mixed up in a scheme involving the daughter of his victim.
  • Genre:
    Drama, Romance
  • Original Language:
    Chinese
  • Director:
    Li Xiaofeng
  • Producer:
    Dun He, Bo Huang
  • Writer:
    Xin Yu
  • Release Date (Streaming):
  • Runtime:

WHAT THIS MOVIE DOES WELL: There are many, many ways in which this movie succeeds but the 1st hurdle it leaps over with ease is the way it flows within the time jumping and spanning across, really, a lifetime of a man who carries a heavy burden. It's because of this burden being so well fashioned that we are able to squeeze into these intense emotional crescendos, and be struck by the variances, some up and some down, and the many that this movie presents, and really feel as though we experienced what Song Hao was going through. Time jumps and long escapades into a lifetime journey are often softened, misconstrued, and even confusingly frustrating by missing details. Yet the beauty of Yu Xin's script and the execution of it on screen by director Li Xiaofeng is that no matter where the timeline jumps, we are confronted with lingering feelings, doubts, and never far from our minds is the incident that triggered this all and we begin wondering when it will rear its ugly head again. That's the power of this story and its storytelling that even in moments that lull and the small bits of confusion jumping ahead creates, we are quickly reengaged and thought provoked. The lead acting earlier on and throughout the 2nd act anchor this very well. Nice nuanced and boisterous performances by Wan Yanhui and Lee Hong-Chi coupled with a very nuanced, quiet performance by Zhang Yu really layer over the timeline and how each segment seems to bring something old and new to it. 

The real true stand out though is Song Jia, who I think steals all the scenes she is in, and really adds an element to the 2nd and 3rd acts that destroy any chance of stagnation. I think between Jia's Pan Xiaoshuang's old friend pining and the many facets of the Father by Yanhui, we get a lot of push and pull that brings to surface the more internal depths of Song. It's a clever aspect of storytelling that allows for those much more silent moments to matter and not bore us. 

There are some beautiful shots, especially amongst rain, with this grey and almost muted hue throughout that really set atmosphere and dictate a lot of that pacing through the subtlety and the even through the time shifts. It's much like the story in that even in moments where we have a brighter pallet that musty, rain clouded hue lingers ready to jump in and push its true agenda. 
   
This movie is all about that one moment that changes things and no matter how far it gets buried it resurfaces which is a lot of how I felt in watching this, after the first couple times thinking a corner has turned or we are about to hit a lull, I resided to the more conventional expectation of waiting for that other proverbial shoe to drop, and it never disappointed to do just that. 

WHY CHAMPION THIS MOVIE: It's not always the destination but the journey and I think a lot of films forget that aspect of storytelling so often that we are left either wanting more or not getting enough. This is not one of those movies, in fact I think it's almost too clever in the ways it tends to give us these elements, but I think if you stick with it, realize quickly you are on a journey that has a pay-off, I think you will really enjoy the ride. 



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