Lost in Thailand is the stand-out film of the year in China. It is an insignificant film. It is the film that has been on everybody’s lips in China since the day of its release. It is a film that you would never have expected to have talked about. It is the film that has made more than any other film in the history of Chinese cinema. It’s a little film. It’s a massive film. Basically, everything and nothing can, and has, been said about this film. But one thing is certain: this film has become a phenomenon.
So, what’s it about? Nothing in particular, nothing new. The film is a typical road movie, liberally peppered with clichés and a totally predictable ending. The ideal follow up to the film Lost on Journey, released in 2010, it replaces the first film’s theme of the vicissitudes of migrant workers trying to get home for the annual Chinese Lunar New Year with the adventures of Chinese people who, for either work or tourism, can now afford to travel abroad.
There are three main characters, played by three of the most famous comic actors in China: a scientist/businessman obsessed by a research project which occupies his mind to the point of jeopardizing his marriage (Xu Zheng); one of his colleagues (Huang Bo), who has undergone the transformation from friend to rival in his attempt to be the first to sell the product developed by the other; and a young, somewhat zany baker (Wang Baoqiang) who goes around with a small cactus and falls head-over-heels in love with a famous film star.
Their destinies cross paths in Thailand, where the first is searching for the CEO – on a meditation retreat – of the company he works for in order to get him to sign a sales contract for the product he developed; the second is on the tracks of the first to try to get to the boss before him; and the third is on his first ever journey abroad and wants to sample all the exotic delights that the collective Chinese imagination associates with Thailand.
All three are somewhat “lost” – as the title of the film suggests – not only because of their fruitless attempts to find the elusive temple retreat of the CEO, but because they are confused, they do not understand precisely what it is they are doing there and what they really want in life. Obviously, they will find out via a series of misadventures which will bring them to better understand each other and themselves.
So as far as narrative structure is concerned, the film offers nothing visionary; and as for its style, Lost in Thailand is a well-made film, but one with no particular ambitions.
The key to the film’s extraordinary and totally unexpected success – seen in China by some 38 million people – are the faces and expressions of the three main stars, their playing off each other and their irresistible likeability, the witty jokes and, above all, the fact that the film does not take itself seriously. Xu Zheng, who is not only one of the main stars, but with this film also debuted as director, screenwriter and producer, has managed – perhaps unwittingly – to get on the same wavelength as the public in the major cities; a public that is increasingly stressed out by the frenetic and competitive lifestyle of modern-day China, a public who wants to kick back and have a laugh, without having to reflect too much, a public that wants to see itself represented with empathy.
Released on the big screen during a particularly cold winter, just a few days before the much-vaunted “end of the world”, the warmth generated by the images of the tropics and the friendliness of the main characters managed to strike at the very heart of the public, removing the winter chills (whilst simultaneously filling the pockets of the producers with cash!)
Maria Barbieri