''Dearest'' is a 2014 Chinese-language film directed by

Peter Chan Peter Ho-sun Chan (born 28 November 1962) is a film director and producer. Early life Chan was born in British Hong Kong to parents China. He and his family moved to Thailand when he was 12, where he grew up amongst the international Chine ...

kidnapping in China Kidnapping in China has its history since the ancient times. Such issues have been heavily studied and discussed by investigators and researchers. Since at least the 1980s, kidnapping has become a bigger issue than ever before in the country. Sin ...

, based on a true story, starring

Zhao Wei Zhao Wei (; born 12 March 1976), also known as Vicky Zhao or Vicki Zhao, is a Chinese actress, businesswoman, film director, producer and pop singer. She is considered one of the most popular actresses in China and Chinese-speaking regions, a ...

Huang Bo Huang Bo (; born August 26, 1974) is a Chinese actor, film director, singer and the current vice-chairman of China Film Association. He is the winner of multiple Chinese film awards, and ranked 34th on Forbes China Celebrity 100 list in 2013, 6 ...

Tong Dawei Tong Dawei (, born 3 February 1979) is a Chinese actor and singer. Tong is best known for starring in the television series ''Jade Goddess of Mercy'' (2003), '' Struggle'' (2007), and '' Tiger Mom'' (2015); as well as the films '' Lost in Beijin ...

Hao Lei Hao Lei (born 1 November 1978) is a Chinese actress and singer, known for her starring roles in Lou Ye's films ''Summer Palace'' (2006) and '' Mystery'' (2012). Biography In 2003, Hao Lei starred in Liao Yimei's play '' Rhinoceros in Love'' in ...

, Zhang Yi and

Zhang Yuqi Zhang Yuqi (; born 8 August 1987), also known as Kitty Zhang, is a Chinese actress best known for portraying Mrs. Yuen in the 2008 film ''CJ7'' — which brought her media attention and kick-started her acting career, and Ruo Lan in the 2016 f ...

. It was screened in the Special Presentations section of the

2014 Toronto International Film Festival The 39th annual Toronto International Film Festival, the 39th event in the Toronto International Film Festival series, was held in Canada from 4–14 September 2014. David Dobkin's film '' The Judge'', starring Robert Downey Jr. and Robert D ...

Plot

Following years of unrelenting search, Tian Wenjun (

) and ex-wife Lu Xiaojuan (

) finally locate their abducted son in a remote village. After the boy is violently taken away from the village, the abductor's widow Li Hongqin (

) — the boy's foster mother — also loses her foster daughter to a state-owned orphanage in

Shenzhen Shenzhen (; ; ; ), also historically known as Sham Chun, is a major sub-provincial city and one of the special economic zones of China. The city is located on the east bank of the Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern province ...

. Heartbroken, Li goes on a lone but determined journey to get her daughter back.

Theme songs

* "Qin'ai de Xiaohai" (亲爱的小孩; "Dear Child") sung by cast members Huang, Tong, Zhao, Zhang Yi and Hao. It was originally sung by

Su Rui Su Rui (; born 13 June 1952) is a Taiwanese singer. In 1968, Su Rui skipped class to participate in a singing competition and was selected, joining the Zero Chorus to sing Western pop songs, and began her singing career. Later, she joined the Ac ...

as the theme song of the 1985 film '' The Unwritten Law''. * "Mei Yi Ci" (每一次; "Every Time") sung by Huang. It was originally sung by Zhang Hongsheng as an insert song in the 1990 TV series '' Kewang''. * "Yinxing de Chibang" (隐形的翅膀; "Invisible Wings") sung by Huang and parents of missing children. It was originally sung by

Angela Chang Angela Zhang (; born 19 January 1982), also known as Angela Chang, is a Taiwanese singer and actress. Zhang has released ten studio albums as of 2020. She debuted and rose to fame with the Taiwanese television dramas ''My MVP Valentine'' (2002 ...

in her 2006 album '' Pandora''.

Cast

* Zhang Yi *

Zhang Guoqiang Zhang Guoqiang ( Chinese: 张国强; Pinyin: Zhang Guoqiáng; born September 30, 1969) is a Chinese actor. Childhood Zhang was born to a family of entertainers. His mother's grandfather was a famous Pingju (a kind of Chinese folk opera) perform ...

* Zhu Dongxu * Yi Qing * Wang Zhifei

Production

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as a ...

for ''Dearest'' took place in

Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...

and

Chengde Chengde, formerly known as Jehol and Rehe, is a prefecture-level city in Hebei province, situated about 225 km northeast of Beijing. It is best known as the site of the Mountain Resort, a vast imperial garden and palace formerly used by ...

. It began from January 2014 and concluded on 18 April 2014. Portraying a rural mother, Zhao Wei spoke the

Lower Yangtze Mandarin Lower Yangtze Mandarin () is one of the most divergent and least mutually-intelligible of the Mandarin languages, as it neighbours the Wu, Hui, and Gan groups of Sinitic languages. It is also known as Jiang–Huai Mandarin (), named after th ...

dialect (the predominant dialect in her hometown of

Wuhu Wuhu () is a prefecture-level city in southeastern Anhui province, China. Sitting on the southeast bank of the Yangtze River, Wuhu borders Xuancheng to the southeast, Chizhou and Tongling to the southwest, Hefei city to the northwest, Ma'ansh ...

) rather than Standard Mandarin in the film.《亲爱的》赵薇演农村妇女飙安徽方言
Sina.com 10 August 2014

Accolades

References

External links

*
Trailer with English subtitles

In China, Dad Uses Social Media To Find Missing Boy
- the story that the film is based on {{Peter Chan Chinese drama films 2014 drama films Films about child abduction Films set in China Films shot in China Films directed by Peter Chan 2014 films 2010s Mandarin-language films