A scene from The Continent starring Berlin Chen (right) and Feng Shaofeng Photo: CFP

With box-office earnings of 280 million yuan ($45 million) since its debut on Thursday (as of Sunday night) and a standing at the third hottest topic on Sina Weibo (980 million page views ), it's no wonder that Han Han's road trip film The Continent has been dominating theaters.

Rising to popularity with his early novels such as San Chong Men (Triple Door), Yizuo Chengchi (A Fortress), and Guangrong Ri (Glory Days), Han's directorial debut has been the center of discussion for several months now.

As one of these curious moviegoers, I decided to spend my Friday evening with this 100-minute-long film. Walking out of the theater, however, I found it difficult to decide whether The Continent was a good movie or not, because while it was thought-provoking and brought the laughter, at the same time I came out feeling unsatisfied, like I had attended a feast that lacked a main course.

Dive into the mind of Han Han



A car, two men, and a journey from the very eastern side of China to its most western borders, meeting different people and experiencing various accidents along the way, this is the basic conceit behind The Continent.

However, differing from many movies that are threaded together by a plot, The Continent builds itself more on mood - If we think of the majority of movies as novels, then The Continent is really just an essay; an essay written in Han's unique style.  

If you've read any of Han's books you should be able to recognize his style immediately: critiquing society through black humor.

For example, at the very beginning of the film, the "Song of Dongji Island" is heard playing, "Dongji Island, we will never leave you. We will be your people when alive and your spirit when we die." However, as the camera pans across the scene it is revealed that all the island's residents moved away a long time ago.

Another moment comes when Jiang He (one of the lead characters played by Taiwanese actor Berlin Chen) decides to put the proverbial slow-boiling frog story to the test. Just as he comes to the conclusion that the frogs will feel the heat and jump out of the pot, Ma Haohan (the other lead character, played by mainland actor Feng Shaofeng) suddenly covers the pot, claiming that this is what real life is like.

Fans of Han's writing will be glad to know that the "golden lines" typical of his books also appear in the film.

"While children judge right or wrong, grown-ups only care about advantages and disadvantages," "When you like a person, you're unbridled, but when you love a person, you're restrained," and "While your idols are stars, my idol is a satellite," lines like these have been widely quoted by fans on the Internet after appearing in the movie.

However, as well written as some of this dialog is, it is not always used to great effect. During an early promotional conference, Han once said that he does not like films that have big messages, but oddly enough The Continent is full of scenes that try to discuss many of life's truths. In the end, the characters' dialog made me feel like I was being preached at more than anything else.

Another big problem with The Continent is that while it has many characters, they all lack clear differences between them. All of them have experienced hardships and been toughened by life. In many ways they are very much like Han, who likes to maintain a low-key appearance in front of others, and has the habit of using black humor to look at life.

The Han vs Guo debate



Two members of China's "post-80s generation" (people born after 1980), writers rising to fame as teenagers to establish huge fanbases, Han and Guo Jingming have been compared to each other for more than a decade. Now, with both young directors having films out in theaters at the same time (Guo's Tiny Times 3.0 premiered on July 17), people have already started drawing comparisons between Tiny Times 3.0 and The Continent, despite the fact that the two films are from very different genres and were made for different audiences. 

While I may not be able to compare how the films were made from a technical perspective, as a common moviegoer, I'd like to share a few of my thoughts on the two films.

First, the worlds of Tiny Times 3.0 and The Continent are as different as heaven and earth.

In Tiny Times 3.0 almost half the time is spent at various parties, which often take place without reason. The lead characters, both men and women, keep changing clothes until you're left dazzled and a bit dazed by all the changes. Even the characters' homes are furnished like top hotels, and luxury brands such as LV, Gucci and sports cars are seen here and there from time to time.

The world of The Continent is as far from that as possible, featuring small untidy towns, people striving for a living and lead characters that never change their clothes and whose faces are seldom clean. While the two main characters do have a car, it's a very ordinary one that they spent 10 years worth of savings to buy.

It seems like Guo is trying his best to create a luxurious upper class world for audiences who may never have the chance to experience such a world for themselves. His movies are meant to let audiences escape into an imaginary world of happiness for an hour or two.

Whereas Han, on the other hand, hopes to make himself a representative of grass-roots people, providing a place where people's dissatisfaction with society can find release through the mouths of the characters in the film. 

While neither director places a strong emphasis on story, Guo's focus is on creating visual enjoyment while Han focuses on creating atmosphere. 

Therefore, although the two characters in The Continent travel across China, few beautiful scenes are shown and almost all shots are filmed at normal speed, whereas in Tiny Times 3.0, the use of color differences and changes between fast snapshots and slow motion views are deliberately used to create beautiful set pieces.

So, if you are a fan of Guo or Han, go and support their films. But for those moviegoers who want to get their money's worth, you'd be better off waiting for the movies to hit the Internet in a few months so you can watch them for free.