“Ordinary Hero”
MOVIE REVIEW
"Ordinary Hero" is a Chinese drama
film directed by Tony Chan based on the true story of the rescue of a Uyghur
boy with a broken arm from Hotan, Xinjiang. Starring Li Bingbing and Feng
Shofeng in the lead roles.
During an accident with the tractor of his elder brother Abdu, played by Irfan Aziz, seven-year-old Merdan, played by Burman Berhad, has his right arm amputated at the shoulder. Tired of village life, Abdu blames himself and takes Merdan and their mother, played by Arzukul Rasheed, to the Hotan People's Hospital. On the way, an old stallholder, Hairat Omar clears the crowd, who are assisted by a policewoman played by Gulnazar, who calls an ambulance. Akbar, an orthopedic surgeon played by Nijad Dursun, confirms Merdan's condition and tells Abdu he can close the wound, but if he wants to sew his brother's arm back together, he must be taken to Urumqi, 1,400 kilometers away where facilities are much better. Since the accident happened at about 19:30, the arm should be revascularized at 03:30.
The last flight scheduled to depart
that evening was recalled while still on the runway; A family of three had to
be persuaded to give up their seats as it was fully booked. China Southern
Airlines flight CZ6820 finally departed at 00:09, captained by Xie Huiyang and
purser Zhou Yan. Liu Rui, a young orthopedic surgeon, has recently resigned
from his job under teacher Akbar after an accidental operation. Xie Huiyang
requests a faster and more direct route to Urumqi that saves 10 minutes; It was
solved by the Air Force. During the flight, Merdan's wound is bleeding and Zhou
Yan asks if there is a doctor on board. Liu Rui is hurt by his offer of help,
but meanwhile, Zhou Yan stops the bleeding. As Merdan begins to cry out in
pain, Liu Rui steps forward and performs emergency needle decompression to
relieve the pressure on the child's chest during the sudden turmoil. When
Merdan later falls asleep and cannot be awakened, a traditional performing
group on board dances and sings to wake him up. At 01:18 the plane begins its
descent to Urumqi, but strong surface winds make the landing difficult. Merdan
finally arrived at the hospital at 02:12 - giving overworked deputy chief
doctor Lin Li more than an hour to stitch Merdan's arm back up.
An ethnic-era medical drama about a young Uyghur
boy in Xinjiang who must sew his hands together in eight hours, Ordinary Hero
is a melodramatic mix of tears and poignancy, celebrating the actions of
everyday people inside and outside the service department. Based on a true
story, Yu Xiaoying's screenplay runs faster than the original, with on-screen
clocks counting down the hours, one after the other, as the boy is first rushed
to the local hospital and onto the last flight to Urumqi.
Among a large cast full of names, actress Li
Bingping stands out as the flight purser, while actor Feng Shofeng does his
best to inject some personality into the role of a surgeon. As the plane's
captain, Huang Xiaoming has nothing but convincing looks, while other
characters, including Shu Yin as a passenger and Uyghur actress Gulnazar as a
charming motorcycle cop, are mere bits. Director Tony Chan moves briskly in a
documentary style but fails to create any real suspense.
Characterization is thin or superficial, most of
the characters are fairly ordinary, and every up and down of the story is
faithfully underscored by Jin Peeta with his elastic score. The camera and
editing are average.
[WATCH REVIEW HERE..]
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