Sacrifice (Kaige Chen 2010): China

Reviewed by Jacqueline Kaden. Viewed at the Santa Barbara Film Festival.

If someone were to tell me at the beginning of the Santa Barbara Film Festival in 2012 that my favorite film would be a Chinese drama/action film, I would have told them they were out of their mind. However, this prediction was to come true.

Sacrifice is a film directed by Kaige Chen, a Chinese director who has been making films since 1984. His masterful directive abilities really reach a peak with Sacrifice, made in 2010, however. Though Chen’s masterful direction was incredibly apparent in this film, what really makes the film special is the dialogue. And thus, Ningyu Zhao must be given the most praise. Zhao is the writer for this film. Zhao is a lesser known Chinese star, having only been in a few titles since 2009. Sacrifice is his first credit as a writer, and boy does he have a bright future. To understand why, we have to look at the content of the film.

Sacrifice is the story of Chen Ying, an average but happy doctor whose wife has just had a baby. In his attendance to the very pregnant matriarch of the Zhou family, Chen Ying becomes mixed up in a coup against the emperor, wherein all of the Zhou family must be killed on the charge of killing the emperor. Chen Ying delivers and is given the Zhou baby to hide him as the last remaining member of the Zhou family. But with this mix up comes a cost. The military is rounding up every infant after finding out that the Zhou baby is missing. Chen Ying’s infant and wife are both killed by the hands of Tu’an Gu, who planned the coup and blamed it on the Zhou. Now with nothing left but the Zhou baby who Tu’an Gu believes is Chen Ying’s actual son, Chen Ying must bide his time as he waits for the day when the Zhou child, who he calls Cheng Bo, will serve Chen Ying’s revenge upon Tu’an Gu.

Yes, this is all very confusing and doesn’t sound like something you would watch to find the deeper meaning in life. It sounds pretty much like a Chinese soap. However, as I said, the writing of this film is what makes it special. The controversy, the coup, and the (perennial) Asian action scenes are just accessories to the brilliantly written and delivered lines that the actors say and perform. At many points in this film, I found myself realizing that this was just a movie and not a documentary of these people’s lives. There was not a moment where I did not believe in the story. The dialogue was deep and emotional and revealed much more about the characters than most Asian-born films like to do. In many Asian and specifically Chinese films, it is more common that the characters are cold and hide their emotions. But in Sacrifice, everything is laid out for the viewer to see. From Chen Ying’s overwhelming joy when he sees his wife and newborn son, to the alienation from his community when he has to raise the Zhou child alone, the dialogue reveals each and every beautifully written emotion that the characters feel. The reason this film is good and not confusing is because the viewer can really attach characteristics to each character, not just names and roles that are played.

Overall, this was by far my favorite film that I saw in the Film Festival, and I would suggest anyone see it.