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So goes a quote: "Comedy is simply a funny way of being serious". How true that is of Huang Bo's directorial debut 'The Island', a survivalist dramedy which adapts the familiar premise of 'Lord of the Flies' for a thoughtful study on social hierarchy. Huang himself co-writes the story of a company of white-collar workers who are shipwrecked on a deserted island while on a teambuilding adventure, after encountering a giant tsunami ostensibly unleashed by a meteorite passing dangerously close to Earth. It is no coincidence that these twenty or so members are colleagues; after all, there is invariably a chain of command established among them, which is all but upended when the company boss Zhang (Yu Hewei) proves utterly clueless about what they need to do in order to survive in the wilderness.

Oh yes, it is deliberate irony that the least among the group should emerge as their leader, but hey at least their bus guide Dicky Wang (Wang Baoqiang) knows how to gather fruits, fresh water and fish, so it isn't surprising that the rest choose to submit to the Army veteran and former circus monkey trainer than to Zhang under those circumstances. Though at first reluctant, Dicky begins to relish being in charge, and pretty soon resorts to force and intimidation to get others to work for him. No one likes to be oppressed, especially not someone used to being the authority, and so in time Zhang will establish a breakaway faction in an overturned freighter beached on another corner of the island. Instead of Dicky's communist-style dictatorship, Zhang runs his little fiefdom by capitalist means, with playing cards as the currency to exchange for goods and food.

Amidst the establishment of these two diametrically opposite centres of governance is Huang's middle-aged sad-sack worker Ma Jin, who is on his own desperate quest to get off the island within 90 days in order to claim the 60 million RMB lottery prize he had just discovered that he won before the fateful tsunami. Ma also pines hopelessly for the affections of his fellow co-worker Shan Shan (Shu Qi), but takes for granted the loyalty of his childhood buddy Xing (Zhang Yixin). Ma and Xing have a brief falling out when the latter inadvertently learns of Ma's real motivation for risking their lives to leave; notwithstanding, the tightly-knit pair stick with each other as they go from Dicky's faction to Zhang's faction to forging their own survival within a broken helicopter next to a shallow riverbed.

In time, Ma will be forced to abandon his dreams of ever cashing in his winnings, but it is also at that time a freak occurrence will turn his despair into hope. Without revealing too much, it suffices to say that Ma and Xing will hatch a plan to reunite the two rival factions so as to establish lasting peace among the community at large, and in the process Ma will win Shan's respect and regard. But with a running time of close to two and a half hours, you'll be mistaken to assume that the film is done; in fact, the third and final act explores just how far both Ma and Xing are willing to go in order to safeguard the kind of life they had built up on the island, especially if that entails withholding the truth from the rest of the group. Both have no illusions just how insignificant they will otherwise be in the real world, and it is this fear that ends up perverting their actions.

Oh yes, it's not hard to see that Huang intends a cautionary lesson on how easily power corrupts even the most unassuming of us - whether is it the lowly service staff Dicky who has leadership suddenly thrust upon him, or the meek and modest Xing who had seemed just days ago perfectly content to simply follow in Ma's footsteps, or the self-effacing Ma who assumed the mantle of leader with no more than the noble intention of healing the rift between his warring colleagues. Besides a critical examination of authority, the film also portrays keenly how communities develop and thrive by simple supply and demand of valuable commodities like food, water and other resources. As artificial as the set-up may be, there is little artifice in how the characters respond to the changing circumstances, and this demonstration of social behaviour is captivating to watch.

As an actor-turned-director, Huang ensures that the performances of his ensemble cast are not lost amidst the allegory. Huang himself brings nuance to his role as a debt-ridden loser looking for a break in life, while giving space for the sort of broad laughs that he is known for in his pairings with Wang. Though in just a supporting role, Shu Qi offers a welcome human touch from time to time in her scenes with Huang, especially when the rest of the proceedings threaten to get a little shrill. Huang also proves to be a visually imaginative director, and some of the more outstanding images on display include a life-or-death shave with a massive cargo freighter during the tsunami, the upside-down shipwreck where Zhang sets up his camp and a tree with hundreds of fish hung from its branches to dry.

It's an impressive debut for Huang no doubt, and even though it does go on for too long, 'The Island' establishes his distinctive voice as a social commentator with comedy as his vehicle. Like our opening quote, there may be outrageous moments of humour within, but that absurdity really underlines the very farcical nature of human behaviour in society. Those familiar with Chinese society will certainly read deeper into its portraits of class differentiation, yet its theme will resonate with anyone who's ever wondered about his or her place on the social ladder. 'The Island' also comes at a particular time in Chinese cinema driven by social allegories, and it is a perfect example of a new consciousness seeping into the mainstream as well as popular culture.

I had no idea what I was getting into here when I sat down to watch the 2018 movie "The Island" (aka "Yi chu hao xi"). In fact, I hadn't even heard about the movie prior to now in 2021, as I sat down to watch it. Needless to say that of course I would watch it, given the fact that it is an Asian movie that I hadn't already seen.

And when I saw that the movie had Qi Shu and Bo Huang on the cast list, I must admit that I got thrilled, because these are some very good Chinese performers. So with them on the cast list, I believed that I might be in for a good movie. Not only did the story have a good pacing, but it also had a very nice flow to it.

Turns out that "The Island" was a rather enjoyable movie. Sure, it was running at about 2 hours and 15 minutes, but the movie had a great pacing to it, and the storyline was nicely constructed by writers Siwei Cui, Junli Guo, Bo Huang, Zhanzhong Huang, Aina Xing, Muchun Zha and Ji Zhang.

Now I am impressed to find out that Bo Huang not only starred in the movie, but he also was one of the writers and he also directed the movie. So color me impressed here.

"The Island" is a movie in the likes of "Castaway", except with a bit more people marooned on the island. And the drama, friendships and love that develops on the island helps carry the movie greatly along.

I was genuinely impressed with director Bo Huang's 2018 movie here, and if you get a chance to sit down to watch it, you most certainly should do so. My rating of "The Island" settles on well-deserved seven out of ten stars.

The phrase, 'just so-so' is exactly the description my friend and I used to describe Bo Huang's directorial debut when we saw his feature at Raffle Plaza in Ningbo, a couple of days ago.

Ma Jin (Huang) is a poor businessman who spends his office hours pining over illustrious colleague Shan Shan (Shu Qi), and his spare time with his younger brother, Xing (Yinxing Zhang). These characters are mere stereotypes; described either as rich, or as losers, with little to no information concerning their work, lives or families. When offered to go on a team building exercise out on the ocean, led by their guide Dicky (Baoqiang Wang), Ma Jin jumps at the opportunity to spend time with the woman of his dreams.

Not long into their voyage, he inexplicably wins fifty million RMB, though his hopes of claiming the winnings, or Shan Shan's heart, is interrupted by a freak wave caused by a falling comet. The prelude, concerning the chunk of falling rock hurtling towards the Earth is little more than filler to propel the narrative forward; however, this is the most interesting part of the story, yet is seldom explored in-depth.

Waking up, trapped on an island, and finding the boss, Zhang (Yu Hewei) is unable to provide solace, the survivors must find a way of coming to terms with what has happened. Clocking in at around two hours, the film is just too long. In under twenty minutes, the cast is already on the island, after which begins the drag.

The film flirts with the concept of the end of the world, but to be honest, I never really cared; this is the film's biggest drawback. Thirty people are marooned on an island, and we are only provided a small measure of substance on five characters. The remaining survivors are relegated to cliched tropes. In fact, half of the characters could have been cut from the film, and it would have made no difference.

Thematically, the feature explores money and power, alongside the struggle to keep both, and the consequences of prioritising these over loved ones. But, The Island does not break any new ground, showing us nothing that hasn't been done before (and better). Many post-apocalyptic films (The Postman, Blindness, etc) have depicted how the underappreciated will inherit the planet when the fragility of society is lost. Despite the differences in genres, The Island, which is more dramady than survival tale, with its occasional laughs and excessive melodrama, never constructs for us a brutally honest vision of how people will behave.

The accompanying visuals are continuously beautiful, capturing both the bleakness and majesty of the survivor's situations. Furthermore, it is intriguing to watch characters rise from underappreciated underdogs to arrogant leaders, and to fall back down again, the constant struggle for power, and the manipulative games played by the leads, creating a sense of mystery and suspense. I would feel remorse and pity for characters in one scene, and in the next, be appalled by their behaviour, the writing and execution by the leads in this aspect being the film's high note.

However, by the end of the film I was left yearning for something with greater impact, and The Island was not capable of scratching that itch. In summary, if I never saw this film again, I wouldn't lose any sleep.

A stranger darkly-comic satire than The Island will not come your way this year and maybe ever. Like an amalgam of Lord of the Flies and The Tempest, it is uncompromising about humanity's ability to screw each other over given a chance to attain power at others' expense.

As the formula would have it, a group of co-workers is stranded on an island after a cataclysmic storm seems to lay waste to the world. Faced with the daunting task of setting up a new world, they experience every form of survival strategy, mostly of a capitalist kind (lending, stealing, hoarding, bartering, etc). most of the time it is not pretty.

Lurking in the wings is Love, the great pacifier, and after scores of days, they seem to get its importance, not only for their mental health, but also for creating heirs should the world have been devastated. Getting to harmony is as difficult for these islanders as it is for those stranded in life.

Speaking of which, and argument and a strategy take place as they struggle what is real and what is fake in their new culture. The audience will take only a split second to make the connection with today's stranded politicians who excoriate "fake news" while they make it.

Although The Island's first part is a slog through hysterics and fast subtitles, the second part settles nicely into satisfactory allegory about the human condition. This little film will never do the business the much slicker and more class-conscious Crazy Rich Asians does; yet, it has its own charms about life as we commoners experience it.

Suffice it to say, we need to see more of these entertaining and culturally rich films because I think Asians are here to stay in our lives.

In this sarcastic comedy about current society, real Chinese stars Huang Bo as Ma Jin, Shu Qi as Shanshan, and Baoqiang Wang as Xiao Wang were a delight to watch!

The film gets off to a great start with amazing special effects during a powerful storm. The many characters are well-developed and stand out from one another. Though each character has clear advantages and disadvantages, their existence in the wild reveals their true selves. The compelling character developments that significantly influence the plot make the storyline less engaging than it is. The movie strikes the ideal balance between a serious survival adventure, some societal commentary on human selfishness, and some lighter parts like a situational comedy and romance.

A few small issues also exist with the Island. The middle part of the film is repetitious and occasionally veers into fantasy rather than sticking to the realistic survival narrative approach. It is at least twenty minutes too lengthy. Because there are extra sequences both during and after the credits, the movie's ending also seems rushed. The audience would have found a better editing of this picture to be far more intense.

Good enough as it is for a family night with snacks! We had a spicy duck neck!

It's good. It's not a comedy. It's more about reflecting human nature. It's not bad. Huang Bo's acting skills are good

Huangbo virgo is quite good, meaning profound, ups and downs have a turning point, magic realism, human nature is really complex

Needs more screaming, especially the hysterical kind. I love how the complete lack of logic drives the movie forward. I gave it one star but really, it earned the coveted dumb & a half rating. At least it's all original, right down to the stolen plot line and the climax by fire. William Golding should have thought of that. Oh boy, 267 characters left to go. What else can one say about this dreck? Well, my cat said meow about halfway through so she approved... or maybe she was hungry... I'll ask her... Oh, hungry. 83 to go. This film is dream fulfillment for all the ugly men with bad teeth out there who hope and dream about ending up with the hot babe. Guess what, dorks... Un-uh, ain't gonna happen... Phew.

Zhang Yixing was praised by his real name. He was able to become an actor among a number of senior actors. Thanks to Huang Bo's script and trust, he gave him a role to play. Back to the film itself, the whole viewing process fluctuates like an electrocardiogram. Whenever you feel good, it will collapse soon, but when the insufficient places pass, new highlights will appear. After all, it's a debut. You can't ask Huang Bo for super high standards because he is the director. The first play dares to challenge a large group of plays with such rich elements. I'm afraid Jiang Wen doesn't have this courage. Jiang Wen's fifth film was only one step away, while Huang Bo's first film was shot. The scene of falling from a cliff at the end was too similar to the scene of Ma Zori jumping down, leaving enough room for the audience to interpret. Therefore, we can foresee the terrible polarization after the official release of the film, but I can say for sure that this is one of the most courageous attempts of 2018 Chinese film. Finally, I want to say that the next drama is not implanted in any advertisement. In the last days of fables, what Kwai is fun and fast is really too low.

The Island is a mostly entertaining mixture of a survival drama with some social criticism, slapstick comedy and romantic elements. It tells the story of about thirty work colleagues who get into a heavy storm and strand on an isolated island. When nobody comes to their rescue, the group elects a military veteran as their leader who soon starts to abuse his power. The group splits into two camps when a clever businessman discovers a shipwreck with useful tools and convinces some of his colleagues to join his group. The story follows two unlucky brothers who soon realize that the military veteran is a sadist while the clever businessman is a liar and decide to live on their own. In order to feel superior just once in their lives, they successfully plan to play the two groups off against each other in order to become the new leaders. As time goes by, the two brothers need to decide whether they want to be leaders on an isolated island or ordinary people in a civilized world.

The movie starts very well with stunning special effects in a dramatic storm. The different characters are nicely developed and very distinctive. Every character has obvious strengths and weaknesses but living in the savage nature shows who the characters really are. The story is less interesting than the gripping character developments that have major impacts on the plot. The film finds the right balance between serious survival adventure with some social criticism related to the selfishness of mankind and some more light-hearted elements such as situation and slapstick comedy but also a romance between the older brother and one of the female co-workers.

The Island also has a few minor flaws. The movie is at least twenty minutes too long and the middle section is both repetitive and drifts at times off into the realm of fantasy instead of keeping the realistic survival story mode. The ending of the movie also feels stretched as there are additional scenes during and even after the credits. A more concise film would have been much more intense for the viewers. Personally, I didn't like Qi Shu's performance very much and don't understand why she is featured in so many movies these days. She is neither a particularly good actress nor a particularly beautiful woman that she often has to incarnate in my book. While other characters evolve mentally but especially physically on the island as they grow beards, long hair or get dirty and rough skin, Qi Shu's character always looks as if she came out of a beauty studio with perfect teeth, clean skin and smooth hair, even after having spent far over one hundred days on an isolated island. Her character simply feels misplaced and looks like a Barbie Doll in a cabinet of horrors.

In the end, I would still recommend The Island if you are looking for a quirky survival drama with intriguing characters. The story is somewhat shallow and the movie has its lengths but it's overall still very good thanks to outstanding acting performances, great camera work, exotic locations, poignant sound effects and impressive special effects as well as an interesting and mostly balanced mixture of different genres.

Because Huangbo, barely four stars. As the first director's work, it is worth affirming. The whole film is still on-line. The plot is hard wounded more, this kind of end-of-life theme, want to be screened on the limit of play space. I'm tired of ordering everything. In fact, when you see it in the middle, you can totally imagine that it will be a foggy ending. Xiaoxing blackening paved the way for insufficient, in fact, in the front should be more than one or two scenes to enrich the character. The final experience is that "all are false" is the core point of view of the whole film.

Not too striking to feel amazed but true enough to depict the social situations and reflect some critical social issues through modifications on true stories. The vitalist part for this movie is not humor as it is originally aimed at, however, it is its unique way to tell a common rule by place its setting in a brief history of human societal evolvement. Each stage there is one idiosyncratic leader performing as the pioneer of the group to lead the people to survive, entertain and be solitary. However, each leader seems innocent with their purpose first but eventually they exacerbate due to the system established and sustained to strengthen their position and privileges. This, the movie reminds of a power without monitoring and restricting can be a fierce lion.

This stunning dark comedy, The Island, succeeds both narratively and technically. The screenplay is smart, with twists and turns and some sharp satire towards humanity, capitalism and brainwash. The cinematography and editing are much mature. Wang Baoqiang continues his run as the best and the most popular comedian of his generation, and Lay marks an important step as he transforms from a singer-dancer to an actor. Huang Bo, on the other hand, simply shocks the world as a director, just like what he did twelve years ago in Crazy Stone as an actor.

Can not understand the incredible low rating. Maybe only the contemporary Chinese people could understand what Huang is telling in this film... All the respect to Bo Huang.

I don't know why this film got a poor rating. But, for me this film isnt bad as the rating. Just watch this film you won't regret it.

Being only a semi-dark comedy it never goes full "Lord of the Flies" but it does throw enough unexpected change-of-fate plot twists to make you doubt a predictable ending which makes this one of the most enjoyable survival movies I've ever seen. Credit-watches like myself will also enjoy the bonus prologue and epilogue scenes.

While thoroughly entertaining, the 100% Rotten Tomatoes score seems like overkill but it certainly deserves better than the very low 6.2 IMDB rating, the latter of which can be at least partly attributed to the penalty that seems to be applied to every Chinese film for some reason.

As the first movie huang bo directed, its so much better than aiqinggongyu which came in the cinema same day.

For the most part, The Island is both charming and inoffensive, but it isn't particularly memorable. I won't be recommending it to others.

I am a Chinese received education in China, US and Hong Kong SAR.

Raised in a wealthy family, I never really had much concerns in money. It brought me a special, 'stupid' perspective about life, families, humanity.

According to Peter Thiel's view, 99% of Chinese are sharing 'Definite Pessimism' in recent decades. Besides those sophisticate reasons, what I saw is that, brotherhood, family love, friendship, every single kinds of love is being polluted by something invisible.

People are all taking it as 'reality'.

But still, even though almost everyone I know are telling me I have to surrender to 'reality', I am glad there is such a movie out there, produced by a well-known actor in China, that it dares to 'put a light in the darkness'. Believe me, this actor is wealthy enough to stay away from this 'pessimism', he can easily choose to be one of the rests, who chose to live like a 'winner' of Chinese society. But he didn't.

To this movie, if you want to dig into those details, to judge how a movie should be, then I hope you had a good time from judging people to collect 'good feeling'. However, I really wish people can learn from this movie, or all other great movies, books, songs, from those sublime artists.

If you close your eyes, shut your ears, fade away from everything you have, and just feel it, feel this universe, it is hard but if you can do it, then you will know how cold it is, how quiet it is and how crucial it is in this space so called 'the Universe'.

If you see human from a perspective on the moon, you will know how pathetic humanity is, and know why 'love' is so important for human race. Just like what this movie is trying to show us.

There is no single 'God', but look at our great human race had accomplished, our race is the only real 'God'.

Love makes us sublime, and selfishness will destroy us.