WRATH OF SILENCE (暴裂无声) (2017) [SCFF 2018]

Genre: Drama/ Mystery
Director: Xin Yukun 
Cast: Song Yang, Jiang Wu, Yuan Wenkang, Tan Zhuo
Runtime: 1 hr 58 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Violence)

Screening Dates: 5 May 2018 (visit scff.sg/films/wrath-of-silence/ for showtimes)

Synopsis: Zhang Baomin (Song Yang) is a mute miner who works far away from home because of some disputes he had with the townsfolk years ago, whilst his wife and son remain near the mountains running a small sheep farm. One day, Baomin learns that his son Lei has not come back from shepherding for two days. He goes back to find his son. His appearance back in town makes people anxious. Searching for his son, Baomin heads for the rough and dangerous mountains, but the resentment and distrust of the townsfolk leads them to turn a blind eye to the reality of a missing child. After the acclaimed feature debut of A Coffin In the Mountain, Xin Yukun’s sophomore directorial feature film is highly anticipated and once again exposes the corruption of contemporary Chinese society and the dark side of the human psyche.

Movie Review:

Aside from flag-wearing patriotic war movies, the Chinese film industry (and we mean Mainland Chinese, not Hong Kong or Taiwan for that matter) has in recent years carved its own niche in hard-hitting crime dramas laced with social commentary. Having established his name in that regard with his well-received 2014 Venice-bowing debut ‘Coffin in the Mountain’, Xin Yukun’s sophomore feature film sees an even more confident filmmaker cementing his mark on the genre with an engrossing noir-tinged thriller that hits hard and punches deep.

At its heart, ‘Wrath of Silence’ is about a father searching for his teenage son who has gone missing. In this case, the father is an irascible miner Zhang Baomin (Song Yang) who has been estranged from his family since moving away to work in Feng County, following a disagreement with his fellow villagers over the sale of land rights that led to him stabbing the eye of the local butcher. But upon learning from his wife Cui Xia (Tan Zhuo) that their 12-year-old son Zhang Lei had not returned after taking out the sheep to pasture one evening, Baomin rushes back home to join in the missing-persons search.

Quite by coincidence, that process leads him to cross paths with the bruiser Da Jin (Wang Zichen) at one of the local mines, which Jin’s boss Chang Wannian (Jiang Wu) had most recently wrested ownership of by force. Jin brings Baomin to meet Wannian, and that encounter leaves him to suspect that the boss of Hongchang Mining whose overtures he had previously rejected is behind the disappearance of Lei. But by following his unfounded hunch, Baomin inadvertently gets further into the crosshairs of Wannian’s illicit activities that also implicate the crooked lawyer Xu Wenjie (Yuan Wenkang), both of whom happen to be under the scrutiny of the authorities.  

As with such fragmented narratives, seeing how the different characters come together is fundamental to the eventual payoff. Thankfully, Xin has woven a compelling story around the fates of his three central players, namely Baomin, Wannian and Wenjie, in surprisingly and yet satisfying fashion. Though a large part of what happens is due to happenstance, Xin roots the actions of his protagonists firmly in their respective motivations – be it a father’s desperation in Baomin’s case, a misplaced invincibility in Wannian’s case, or just simple self(ish)-preservation in Wenjie’s case – and allows their fortunes to intertwine in mutually destructive ways. It is to Xin’s credit that it all comes together believably, without ever resorting to any deus ex machina twists or compromising our empathy for Baomin. 

In Baomin, Xin has crafted a character rugged and sympathetic at the same time. As overt as the symbolism may be, the fact that Xin is mute reinforces the plight of the rural underclass in Chinese society, who often find themselves voiceless and powerless against rich and corrupt mercenaries. Notwithstanding, it is notable that how Baomin’s lone crusade turns out, which is undeniably constructed so the film does not run afoul of the Chinese censors (who would certainly not look too kindly on vigilantism or any glorification of it). Yet by the same measure, Baomin never turns into some caricature of the classic avenger archetype, and is all the better for it.

On the other hand, Xin has no qualms casting Wannian in a generically villainous role, but he finds in Wu a superb actor able to convey menace with various shades of nuance. Ditto his choice of Song Yang for Baomin, who portrays his character with just the right mix of desperation, despair and indignation. Largely though, this is Song’s acting showcase from start to finish, and the up-and-coming performer pulls off the dialogue-free role with aplomb. Next to Song and Jiang, the other supporting members somewhat pale in comparison, but the resultant two-hander makes the rich-poor divide Xin is trying to illustrate even more obvious.

Like we alluded to at the start, ‘Wrath of Silence’ is one in a line of gritty crime thrillers that Mainland filmmakers have discovered their niche in of late, and is indeed one of the best that we have seen from that industry. Hard to believe that Xin is only 33 years old this year, especially given his strong storytelling grasp in terms of plotting, mise-en-scene and characterization, but this second directorial effort is an improvement leaps and bounds over his debut. There is no wrath to be felt in enjoying such a full-bodied drama, or any reason why you should stay silent about its accomplishments, so go ahead and sink your teeth into this layered, textured thriller that you’ll more then readily tell others about..

Movie Rating:

(Taut, gripping and surprisingly poignant, writer-director Xin Yukun's sophomore film is an impressive addition into the Mainland Chinese crime thriller canon)

Review by Gabriel Chong