Long Day’s Journey Into Night is memorable, mesmeric virtuoso filmmaking by Gan Bi, creating a universe where time moves sinuously.
Beautiful Dreamer
by Alexa DalbyCAUTION: Here be spoilers
Luo Hongwu (Jue Huang) returns to Kaili, the hometown from which he fled many years ago. He begins the dreamlike search for the woman he loved, and whom he has never been able to forget.
“Mesmerising…This is bold and rare filmmaking. A slow and steady rollercoaster ride through memory, melancholy and movie magic. There is a shot that will be talked about, at least in cinephile circles, for quite some time.
What makes this 50-plus-minute sequence-shot here so special is how it blends depth-defying camerawork (Steadicams, zip-lines and drones are involved), exquisite lighting and production design — all of it captured in 3D! — with a deeply poetic style that recalls both Wong Kar-Wai and Andrei Tarkovsky, tracking the main character’s gradual descent into melancholic bliss.” – The Hollywood Reporter
“Remarkable. A beautiful, smoulderingly romantic film. The sweet ache that comes from trying to hold on to a reverie is both the theme and the effect of a film that is ostensibly about a man’s search for his lost love, but gradually casts off the ballast of narrative to become an extended audiovisual poem – in 3D.” – Screen International
“One of the most beautiful and virtuosic in the history of cinema.” Les Inrocks
Long Day’s Journey Into Night premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, screened at the BFI London Film Festival and is released on 27 December 2019 in the UK.