The thrilling, serpentine story of Pengpeng's abduction
Daniel Nelson
Dearest
Image by Dearest
Or, rather, two of them – because just when you think the abduction of three-year-old Pengpeng has been sorted in this thrilling, serpentine tale, the fate of his little fostered “sister” suddenly moves into the spotlight.
This unexpected shift in the story occurs just as you think the film is drawing to an end. We’ve been on an emotionally-charged roller-coaster journey, as Pengpeng’s estranged parents, Tian Wen-jun and his ex-wife Lu Xiao-juan, live out their traumas, are worn down by years of sorrow and search, are cruelly tricked by fraudsters claiming to have found their son, join a self-help group of parents whose children have been stolen, and are almost beaten to death by a mob who think Tian and Lu are child-snatchers when they finally trace their son, now living in another part of the country and speaking a different dialect.
At this point the story veers onto a surprising new trajectory. The woman who has become Pengpeng’s mother, herself wracked by grief at losing her child, fights ferociously to get him back, together with the daughter that her dead husband obtained after telling her she was infertile. The big shots in the glitzy law firm that she tries to hire look down on her, dismissing her as a yokel, and she struggles to understand the requirements and attitudes of the courts and of the orphanage where her children have been placed.
The battle for custody turns out to be as convoluted as the original hunt for the missing child. Director and producer Peter Ho-sun Chan cleverly manipulates our loyalties and shows us the moral and legal complexities that can arise in such cases – no wonder the lower court adjudicator is slumped head in hands as he faces yet another set of warring parties. Even Solomon would be in despair at the hopelessness of finding an equitable judgenment..
These complexities are dramatic and absorbing, but add to the film's length. So do some of the details and sub-plots. It’s fascinating to see another lost-child couple railing against regulations that won’t allow them a second baby until they can produce the death certificate of their first: there is no certificate – the child is not dead, but has been missing for six years. Other scenes, such as Tien Wen-jun sticking a piece of identifying gum on the electricity cable that links to his Internet shop, amidst an impenetrable jumble of wires, are less relevant.
Despite the length, it’s a terrific story – apparently based on a real case – with insights into the life and times of contemporary China.
· Dearest is screening as part of the London Film festival at the Odeon West End on 12 October (2.30pm), the Vue West End on 13 October (2.45pm) and Cine Lumiere on 14 October (6.15pm)
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