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From weddings shooter to arthouse wunderkind
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CHINESE director Bi Gan’s poetic film “Kaili Blues” won him the Best Emerging Director Award as well as a Special Mention for a First Feature at the Locarno International Film Festival in Switzerland last Saturday.
As the title suggests, the film is set in Kaili in southwest China’ Guizhou Province. The city is the epicenter of Miao ethnic minority culture as well as the director’s hometown.
Bi, 26, started writing the film’s script back in 2011 after graduating from college. Prior to “Kaili Blues” he directed two short films — and also worked as an oil supplier and wedding cameraman.
As Bi explained to Shanghai Daily during a recent visit to Hangzhou, his experience of shooting weddings served him well when it came to executing the innovative camera work seen in “Kaili Blues.”
The film features a 40-minute-long sequence that commingles the past, present and future of its protagonist. This long sequence begins with a motorcycle winding its way along a mountain road. Throughout the sequence, the shot follows actors as they board a variety of other vehicles, including a pickup truck, a boat and a train. The entire sequence was done with limited special effects and took an entire month to plan.
Bi says he was influenced by Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao-hsien, who is known for his long shot.
A thread of Buddhism also runs through the film, with one voiceover featuring a quote from the Diamond Sutra: “it is impossible to retain a past thought, to seize a future thought, and even to hold onto a present thought.”
The meditative film centers on a poet/clinic worker, Chen Sheng, who finds his departed wife in an otherworldly town while searching for his young nephew, Weiwei.
The film’s cast is comprised mostly of non-professional actors. Chen Sheng, for instance, is played by Bi’s uncle Chen Yongzhong. Bi’s brother, his grandmother’s friend, and his sound engineer’s cousin also have roles in the film.
The film has obtained a screening permit in China and is expected to reach domestic audiences at the end of this year.
As one of the oldest film festivals in the world, the Locarno Film Festival is well known for supporting Asian films and filmmakers.
According to the New York Times, Carlo Chatrian, Locarno’s artistic director, said “Kaili Blues” was “one of the first films we selected”, and offers “a new way of looking at inner China.” Previously, Chinese arthouse directors Jia Zhangke and Hou Hsiao-hsien have also received awards at the festival.
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