Lighting Up the Stars (Chinese: 人生大事; pinyin: Rénshēng Dàshì; lit. 'Life Events') is a 2022 Chinese drama film written and directed by Liu Jiangjiang, starring Zhu Yilong and Yang Enyou. The film follows the story of a mortician released from prison who meets an orphan during a funeral, which unexpectedly changes his attitude towards career and life.[3]
The film premiered in China on 24 June 2022. The total box office of the film is 1.712 billion yuan, ranking the 4th in China's 2022 box office list.[4]
Plot
Mortician Mo Sanmei (played by Zhu Yilong) meets orphan Wu Xiaowen (played by Yang Enyou) during a funeral shortly after his release from prison. With reluctance, Mo takes care of Xiaowen and this decision burdens Mo further on top of his existing life problems. After a series of mishaps, this unlikely father-daughter pair develops a special relationship, and it changes how Mo views his job as a mortician and life.
Liu Jiangjiang began to write the screenplay in 2019, which was inspired by the funeral culture in north China.[5]Han Yan (director) [zh] read Liu Jiangjiang's drafts and gave notes for improvement.[6]
Lighting Up the Stars began production on 27 May 2021, in Wuhan and finished filming on 1 August.
Release
Lighting Up the Stars was slated for release on 2 April 2022 (Qingming Festival), but was postponed to 24 June 2022.[7]