Ocean Heaven (2010) on Netflix
Wang Xingchang works at an aquarium and cares for his son Wang Dafu, who has autism. Learning he has little time left, he sets out to teach Dafu to look after himself.
- Netflix3.8/5
- IMDb7.5/102,918 votes
- Rotten TomatoesNot available
Trailer
Plot summary
Since his wife drowned fourteen years ago, Wang Xingchang has brought up his son Wang Dafu alone and looks after the 21-year-old day and night. Dafu has autism, and his father works at an aquarium. When Wang Xingchang learns he has under five months to live, he sets about teaching Dafu the tasks he will need to do for himself, and he searches for a place where his son can live. A principal at the boarding school Dafu attended as a child points him to a newly opened institution. Ling Ling, a clown with a small traveling circus that performs at the aquarium, gets on well with Dafu.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Ocean Heaven (2010)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Jet Li did not take any pay for Ocean Heaven, hoping the film would encourage people to pay more attention to charity and dedicate their compassion to it.
- The story of Ocean Heaven was mostly based on the real life and experience of first-time director Xue Xiaolu, who had volunteered for 14 years with Beijing Stars and Rain, a non-governmental educational organization for children with autism.
- Nobody was willing to take a risk on the non-commercial script until film mogul Bill Kong, the man behind Hero and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, stepped in to get it made.
- Wen Zhang, who played the autistic son Dafu, could not swim before the film; he went swimming every day until he became an expert, and visited an autism school daily to understand how his character thinks.
- Jet Li admitted playing the father was not easy: his own father died when he was two years old, so he did not understand the concept of the word "father" for a long time.
