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“If I hadn’t met you, I wouldn’t have had anyone to say goodbye to,” the guy tells the girl in a flat tone in Bound In Heaven. It isn’t a conversation that lovers from yore would have had. It is a selfish statement and theirs isn’t a love story that sticks to definitions. Still, Huo Xin’s debut film might as well be the grandest romance you would encounter in 2024’s festival rounds. Its grandiose does not arise from size. Bound In Heaven (Kun bang shang tian tang in Mandarin) is driven by passionate characters who take each day as it comes.
Erich Segal’s romantic classic Love Story might be Xin’s inspiration as she makes twin flames meet on the night of a concert. The wealthy yet abused Xia (Ni Ni) strikes an instant connection with a street ticket seller Xu (Zhou You). While it starts as a one-off, rebound-like meeting, fate has other plans for the couple. They meet again to spin a gorgeous odyssey of love.
The beauty of Bound In Heaven is in how it subverts melodramatization of a plot that brims with that potential. In a stray motorbike accident, you see the couple fall into a wet field. We observe Xia ensuring her safety to later offer first aid to a bleeding Xu. The filmmaker ups the graph of their intimacy through somewhat lengthy yet beautifully realized sequences – one in an expansive, green water body and another where the girl ties up the guy with a unique plea.
“You may not believe it but I do not remember the last time I watched the sun rise. Or did an all-nighter like this,” Xia’s words remind us that when Xu is around, she is up for any adventure. The guy isn’t being playful when he tells the girl, “All you need is a knife.” He does not think twice before piercing one into his thigh.
This way, Bound In Heaven is a violent film. The lovers may not be harming each other but there are strong elements of suffering and abuse while looking at physical pain in different ways. It also provides a refreshing (and realistic) perspective of parents. Xu’s family is as unfeeling as he is to them. The elderly couple rightfully tells him, “Do not come back here,” and the film allows us to peek into their state of mind.
Bound In Heaven, in its final act, works as a mesmerizing dance of love. It has poetry, philosophy, and emotions galore. Xia and Xu are immersed in a life where nothing else matters but the good times they create before a tragedy comes knocking. The New Year’s night sees the couple on the streets and in a boat – living each second as it ticks.
Actors Ni Ni and Zhou You drive Bound In Heaven with their high energies and organic sizzle that we seldom crave more characters or scenery. Mind you, the film with its artsy cinematography and countless picture-postcard frames is a photographic marvel. The bright shades and the clever play of lights never go unnoticed even as we cry buckets throughout.
The original score (filled with soft keyboard strains) adds depth to the couple’s interactions. The dialogues gleam with familiarity and wit making their fire-and-ice chemistry come alive.
Huo Xin’s screenplay does not leave a single component to go unutilized. Whether it is an artiste by whom Xia is fascinated, Xu’s ability to tie knots, or the references to self-defense, knives, and celebratory fireworks – everything fuses to give us a heartrending closure. Bound In Heaven is also not haunted by the ghost of predictability. The iceberg is seen from a mile. To those who grew up shedding copious tears to Erich Segal’s ‘Love Story’, here’s a tragic romance that gets its pulse just right.
Rating: ★★★★
Bound In Heaven was screened at the 55th International Film Festival of India (IFFI, Goa).
