《唐山大地震》预告片催人泪下

《唐山大地震》，根据小说《余震》改编，描述1976年唐山地震中，一位母亲只能选择救姐弟之一。母亲最终选择救了弟弟，但姐姐却奇迹生还，后被解放军收养，32年后家人意外重逢，心中的裂痕等待他们去修补的悲感情节，再一次勾起了当代人们对那一段惨痛灾难的回忆！

Just one day after an earthquake hit Qinghai Province's Yushu County, a trailer for the first film to deal with one of China's deadliest ever earthquakes was released.

Feng Xiaogang's latest work, "After Shock", tells the story of a family who were torn apart by the 1976 Tangshan earthquake yet miraculously brought back together by another earthquake.

The trailer depicts a small girl waking up in the first rain after the Tangshan earthquake, her face and body covered in mud. She is surrounded by dead bodies.

She wanders the streets until a soldier finds her.

The soldier asks if any of her family members have survived, and if yes, where they are.

The girl would not - or rather could not - say a word, paralyzed by her grim and painful memories.

A few days ago, the 7-year-old was buried under the debris with her twin brother only a meter away.

Sadly, the diggers found that the two of them were stuck under a stone slab. If they wanted to save one of the children, they would have to raise one side of the slab and consequently crush the other child.

Their mother, who just lost her husband, had to make a choice. The clock was ticking, with time running out for both her children.

Her heart broken, the mother finally chose to save the boy, because she could only hear the boy's voice.

But she did not know that her daughter overheard this terrible decision. Nor did she know that, miraculously, after being buried under the rubble for days, her daughter would come back from the dead and start a new life in a far away place.

The mother was played by actress Xu Fan, who couldn't hold back tears when watching the trailer.

"I got emotional because it was the first time I watched it. But I think if they play it again for me, I will cry again."

The actress is the wife of the film's director Feng Xiaogang.

She confesses that she got the role partly by taking advantage of her intimate relationship with the director, while her husband hardly thinks of it as a favor.

"I know my wife too well. I knew for sure that she would do her job very well, and would bring a lot of good acting to the table."

Zhang Jingchu, who plays the grown-up daughter, also speaks highly of Xu Fan's acting.

"When I saw her acting with that much power, I broke down. I thought, how could I not forgive a mother like her?"

In the film, the daughter survived, but refused to reveal who she was, thus giving up the chance to reunite with her family.

She was adopted by a young couple and later moved to the U.S., where she lived unhappily in the shadow of her traumatic experience.

Zhang Jingchu describes the pain of her character.

"When your own mother gives you up, your world is turned upside down; it will never be the same again. You'll find it extremely hard to believe in anyone. And it's even harder to change that mindset."

For some reason she cannot figure out, however, after the Sichuan earthquake happens, she volunteers to join the rescue team and returns to China.

As she witnesses the post-quake life of the locals, she finally confronts her past pain and reunites with the mother and twin brother she has not seen for 32 years.

Zhang jingchu says these experiences, when taken together, allow her character to deal with all her internal pain.

"I think it is her working for the Wenchuan quake survivors and her becoming a mother herself that prompt her to find ways of setting herself free from the emotional cage she has hidden in. It is a process of gaining freedom and coming to terms with herself."

A story about finding forgiveness, "After Shock" depicts not only the fatal tragedy brought about by a natural disaster, but also the strength and courage people can muster in the face of devastating situations.

Feng Xiaogang, the director, is confident about his work, saying that the post-production effects of the film can rival the likes of "2012" and "Avatar", yet his movie offers a much deeper story.

According to a spokesperson for the Huayi Brothers, the film's producers, the investment reached 22 million US dollars, making it the most expensive film Feng has ever made.

Building a ruined Tangshan cost more than 700,000 US dollars.

Another large part of the cost involved hiring the post-production crew from the "Harry Potter" series.

To save costs, some actors offered to have their wages cut.

Feng's wife, the lead actress, even did the job for free.

But the crew were very generous when it came to helping those affected by the recent Yushu earthquake.

At the trailer release ceremony, Feng made a proposal to his investor.

"Zhonglei, I propose that we donate 200,000 yuan to support the relief work in Qinghai. Let's contact the red cross association right after the ceremony."

The director is clearly confident about the film's prospects.

He says he is expecting it to break Chinese box-office records by raking in at least 500 million yuan, or some 73 million US dollars.

The film is set to be released on July 28 to commemorate the 34th anniversary of the natural disaster it depicts.