Thursday 25 June 2020

地久天长  (SO LONG, MY SON)

Recommended. Austere but powerful. Limited locations. A story spanning a few decades of the recent history of China. Locations play a role in two ways: the same hospital room is the place where the woman loses both children in two strikingly different tragic ways, on the other hand, shabby, communist-time tiny flats are contrasted with modern-day posh venues. A very human drama casting a shadow for decades will tug on your heartstrings. It's so engrossing you don't feel the passage of time (about 3 hours). What initially appears to be random pieces of the families' lives comes to a fleshed-out conclusion. It's totally credible, including trivia like hospital transport staff skilled in kung fu, and makes you ponder about the inevitability of the events. Are we just pawns of politics and clogs of history?

This time the face mask didn't bother me. You can get used to it after all.

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