Dear Shaded Viewers,
Yesterday my friend Marco de Rivera and I went to see So Long, My Son. First we wondered how willing we were to sit through a film of 3 hours but decided to attempt it. In a nearly empty theatre we were totally drawn into the sensitive portraits and poetry of the two families and what was going on in the country from the 1980’s to present. Here are a few sound bytes from film critics and my personal strong recommendation, we did not even sense that we were sitting in the dark room for 3 hours.
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“The film’s greatest turn comes from Wang Jingchun as Yaojun. It’s in his ordinary goodness (…) that the film finds, then repeatedly breaks, your heart, before a subtly momentous finale”Jessica Kiang: Variety
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“The entire film is cleverly constructed out of flashbacks (…) A masterful editing job from Lee Chatametikool helps Wang skillfully bring all the private and socio-political threads together in an accessible story”Deborah Young: The Hollywood Reporter
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“Wang’s dedication to the details of Chinese working-class life grounds the film in a reality unmarked by melodrama’s hazy-eyed stylizations”Pat Brown: Slant
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“Wang’s ambition and seriousness, aided by strong ensemble performances, ensure it is a formidable and, for the most part, involving work of novelistic scope.”Jonathan Romney: Screendaily
- Original title
- Di jiu tian chang
- Year
- 2019
- Running time
- 175 min.
- Country
China- Director
- Wang Xiaoshuai
- Screenwriter
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Mei Ah, Wang Xiaoshuai
- Music
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Dong Yingda
- Cinematography
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Kim Hyun-seok
- Cast
- Liya Ai, Du Jiang, Zhao-Yan Guo-Zhang, Jingjing Li, Xi Qi, Wang Jingchun,Roy Wang, Cheng Xu, Mei Yong
- Producer
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Dongchun Films
- Genre
- Drama
- Synopsis / Plot
- Two married couples adjust to the vast social and economic changes taking place in China from the 1980s to the present.
- Awards
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2019: Berlin Film Festival: Best Actor & Best Actress
