In many space films, whenever the Earth faces danger, humans always leave the planet in spaceships. But the latest Chinese science fiction movie, The Wandering Earth, offers a1idea.
The film is based on a short story by a Chinese science fiction writer, Liu Ci xin. In this film, the Earth is in2of being damaged by the dying sun. In response, humans around the world work together to build a giant engine system (发动机系统) that will push the Earth3the Sun. Instead of giving up the Earth, this time we will4it with us.
For thousands of years, “homeland” has played an important role in the hearts and minds of Chinese people. One old idiom is “luoyeguigen”, which means5one's homeland in old age, like fallen leaves coming back to the roots of their tree. It shows that Chinese people have their closer ties with their6.
The special cultural background of Chinese is probably what sets The Wandering Earth different from Hollywood-style space films.
"What is Chinese science fiction?" Guo Fan, the film's director, said in an interview. "There is no more about superheroes to save humans alone. In Chinese culture, we7try our best to bring everyone together. This is what we saw in the movie. So the way that can really express our culture and spirit can be called a8science fiction. Otherwise, we just copy others and tell the same American stories."
And the makers of The Wandering Earth chose the best time to tell its Chinese science fiction story. The film was shown on Feb 5, the first day of Chinese New Year. It was a time when many people had just made the 9journey back to their hometowns no matter how busy the traffic they had to face. So to them, there is only one possible way to tell the story: The10goes wherever humans go, because it's our home.
