November 2018


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What if you remembered committing a murder you didn’t actually commit? This intriguing idea is part of the 2017 sci-fi thriller Battle of Memories, a film screened by the Confucius Institute on Friday, October 26 as its offering for Chinese Movie Night at UWI.

Held at the Centre for Language Learning auditorium at the St Augustine campus, the movie is about a novelist called Bo Huang who decides to have memories of his ex-wife (Xu Jinglei) deleted following a painful divorce. But when a glitch in the procedure causes him to receive a killer's memories instead, he gets dragged into a police investigation regarding an unsolved murder.

The film is a mystery/thriller/crime movie directed by Leste Chen, and first released on April 28, 2017. Two hours long, it is written by Ryan Ren and stars Bo Huang, Yihong Duan, Wei-ning Hsu.

Australian film critic Juliana Purnell had this to say about the film in her May 5, 2017 review posted on the website Geeks Under Grace:

“If one was to compare it to an American film, then Battle of Memories is the dark, down-trodden cousin of Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind. They share a lot of the same core ideals, though Battle of Memories sits firmly in the crime genre. The film intriguingly touches on the idea of memories impacting our current behavior. The cinematography is wonderfully quirky, and the mystery unfolds, interjected with nicely gelled moments of comedy to lighten the deliciously dark mood. Yes, the story has a number of flaws, but it’s an enjoyable romp nonetheless, and Leste Chen must be commended for attempting something different. You can tell he is genuinely enjoying himself while creating this film. His camera work is masterful and playful in some shots. The actors also deliver strong performances. If you’re into films like Minority Report or Total Recall, or crime stories that have a bit of creative flair, then definitely give Battle of Memories a go.”