MCLC: An Elephant Sitting Still

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An Elephant Sitting Still
Hu Bo's 胡波 film An Elephant Sitting Still (大象席地而坐) will be screened at the Toronto International Film Festival on Sept. 6. See details below.--Kirk
Source: TIFF https://www.tiff.net/tiff/an-elephant-sitting-still/
An Elephant Sitting Still (Da Xiang Xi Di Er Zuo), by Hu Bo
China, 2018, STC, 234 minutes
Canadian Premiere
Mandarin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6j_d8ENXkY
Over the course of a single, suspenseful day, the troubled lives of four desperate people unfold in this resonant film about the human condition — director Hu Bo’s first and, tragically, final feature.
A restless camera stalks lives scarred by indifference, violence, and despair amid the frozen post-industrial decay of an anonymous city somewhere in northern China. It spins a wrenching tale of rage and beauty in Hu Bo's magnificent debut film.
Achingly elegant and epic, An Elephant Sitting Still is destined to become a landmark of new Chinese cinema, albeit one tainted by tragedy, as the immense talent of Hu Bo is now forever lost due to the young director's death shortly after the completion of this film.
Somewhere further up north and away from all daily concerns in the city of Manzhouli, a mythical elephant is said to be sitting still, indifferent to the brutality of the world — casting a legendary spell and drawing the protagonists of this story, which unfolds during a single, eventful day.
Punctuated by long takes and silences and sudden outbursts of verbal and physical violence, the film's complex narrative flows seamlessly. It tells the stories of 16-year-old Weibu (Peng Yuchang) who is bullied at home and in school, his old neighbour Wang Jin (Liu Congxi) who has been evicted from his home by his estranged family, and his classmate Huang Ling (Wang Yuwen) who is having an affair with a school official and fears the release of a revealing video. They are escaping from their families, authorities, gangsters, and the bleak nature of reality on their way to Manzhouli.--GIOVANNA FULVI
Director
Hu Bo was born in Jinan, China and studied film directing at the Beijing Film Academy. The author of many popular novels, he wrote and directed his feature debut, An Elephant Sitting Still (18), before his death in October 2017.
by denton.2 at osu.edu on August 22, 2018
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