Upcoming Summer

[maggie33]

Yesterday I watched the Chinese movie Upcoming Summer with Wu Lei and Zhang Zifeng. It’s on Netflix here. It’s an endearing, enjoyable and a bit melancholy coming-of-age movie about the developing bond between two 18 years old students who failed their college entrance exams and because of that have to repeat their last year of school.

Chen Chen is a serious, a bit socially awkward girl who’s having a hard time dealing with her family problems. Zheng Yuxing is a free-spirited, honest, adorable and kind boy obsessed with the electronic music and dreaming of becoming a famous DJ.

I liked it a lot, it’s very well written and the actors are great. But I plan a rewatch soon, because I wish I knew about one spoiler before watching it. It flew completely over my head, I only realized it after reading this review on thefangirlverdict.com. Now I want to watch it again knowing about that spoiler. I mean, it’s a good movie even if you’ll never realize a twist about Wu Lei’s character Zheng Yuxing, and in the end it doesn’t really matter all that much to the general meaning of the movie, but still it gives a bit more depth to a few scenes from the movie and explains a bit more about the relationship between Zheng Yuxing and his father.

More here with a spoiler I mention above.

So during the whole movie Zheng Yuxing is very in love and pining desperately after well know DJ Ming, who rejected his feelings. There are hints through the movie that Ming is a man, and not a woman, which I never noticed before reading the review. As it is mentioned in the review I linked to – in Chinese the word for ‘he’ and ‘she’ are homonyms, and unfortunately Netflix English subs use the word ‘she’ when Zheng Yuxing is talking about Ming. And we never hear Ming’s voice or see Ming’s face, even on a picture. So I didn’t pick up on the fact that Ming is a guy and Zheng Yuxing is gay and that this is probably a big reason behind the tense relationship between him and his father.

I only watched this movie because I recognized Wu Lei (whom I adored in Nothing But You) on the movie’s thumbnail image when I was browsing Chinese dramas available on Netflix. But I’m glad I did, because I liked it. And I really recommend it.

Comments

[china_shop]

Ooh, that sounds awesome. Wu Lei!! *adds to Netflix list* :D

[maggie33]

Yes, yes, watch it. I hope you'll like it. :)

[dancing_serpent]

It's a great movie, I loved it a lot! It really was very subtle, and I totally missed two of the clues on my first watch.

1.) Apparently, when he messages the DJ, the tiny contact picture shows a man. I never noticed, and couldn't really make it out on my second watch.

2.) When they run away to that festival, her parents are very worried something might happen, but his dad just snorts and says that he can assure them nothing will happen between the two of them.

But I definitely understood it the moment they're standing in front of the posters depicting all the DJ's, and she's staring at it wide eyed and speechless, and he turns to her and tells her that now she knows another secret of his.

It clicked for me then, why the father made that remark, and why the father/son relationship was so strained the whole time.

[maggie33]

Apparently, when he messages the DJ, the tiny contact picture shows a man. I never noticed, and couldn't really make it out on my second watch.

Ohhh, good to know, I'll see if I'll manage to spot it during my re-watch.

When they run away to that festival, her parents are very worried something might happen, but his dad just snorts and says that he can assure them nothing will happen between the two of them.

Ha, yes, I noticed that and now I know what his dad really meant, but then I just though that maybe his dad said it because Yuxing was a good guy who would never hurt a girl.

But I definitely understood it the moment they're standing in front of the posters depicting all the DJ's, and she's staring at it wide eyed and speechless, and he turns to her and tells her that now she knows another secret of his.

I feel like I should have realized it then, but you know, it's a Chinese movie. I never expected a twist like that from a Chinese movie. That's what made me miss it. But yes, I love it, because it was such a nice surprise. :)

[dancing_serpent]

maybe his dad said it because Yuxing was a good guy who would never hurt a girl

Yeah, that was my first thought, too. Even if the relationship was strained, I'd find it believable if the dad his son wouldn't do that. But after that scene in front of the poster, I rethought that scene.

I didn't expect that twist, either, and I was delighted when it clicked for me. *g* Made the whole second watch so much better, too.

[trobadora]

Oh, that sounds very cool!

(I'm now very curious how the Chinese subtitles handle this ...)

[maggie33]

I'm now very curious how the Chinese subtitles handle this ...

And now I'm curious what would Polish subtitles do with that twist and if they would use Polish word for 'she'. But I'll never know because it's one of those movies on Netflix here that has only English subs, and doesn't have Polish subs. :)

[lunarriviera]

WU LEI YOU SAID??? [runs to netflix]

[maggie33]

Yes, watch it, it's very good and Wu Lei is excellent. :)

[sakana17]

Oh! Wu Lei! I'll have to look for this!

[maggie33]

Wu Lei is amazing in this movie, I hope you'll like it. :)