REVIEW
Film: Kaili Blues
Director: Bi Gan
Starring: Chen Yongzhong, Guo Yue, Luo Feiyang
Showing: Thursday, August 4, at 11am, at the Forum Theatre, as part of MIFF
Rating: ★★★★

By JASMINE ROBINS

Kaili Blues, which had its Australian premiere at the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) last Friday, is an award-winning feature by emerging young Chinese director Bi Gan.

Set in the director’s hometown of Kaili, southwest China, the film explores the challenges of the past and the conflicts of daily life.

The film uses a strong visual narrative device to underscore its themes of memory and time. Gan enables the audience to experience and reflect on their own memories of love and loss through the the story of the protagonist Chen Sheng (Chen Yongzhong), a doctor from Kaili.

Gan builds on Chen’s story, without being overbearing, through the use of the director’s published poetry, complemented by panoramic views of Kaili.

Wide camera angles of the mountains surrounding the area and the winding paths and roads that lead into the valley gives the feature a sense of detachment from the rest of the world.

As Chen journeys to find his nephew Weiwei (Luo Feiyang), he is faced with the unknown territories of his memory. While using a visual narrative the director is able to intertwine the stunning imagery of Kaili into the themes highlighted by the main character.

Drained colours, highlighted through the use of a natural setting, wash away the bright reds and golds associated with the the traditional, romanticised views of China.

The scenes then create a sombre and undoctored aesthetic to Chen’s journey, offering a sense of realism with unfiltered charm.

He often pulls into view, and then later leaves the shot, only to reappear from some obscure angle from the side mirror of his motorbike, or through a silhouette on a shower curtain.

Here Gan highlights the “daily life” elements of Asian cinema, which is often obscure in Western film making.

In Western cinema, the camera tends to follows the action, deviating every now and then to ground the audience in the environment or deepen their understanding of the characters.

Scenes where the camera follows Chen as he rides through the mountains with only the natural sounds to complement the imagery, or the unapologetically action-lacking 41-minute take which follows Yangyang (Guo Yue), a local seamstress of Dangmai, as she travels across a river in Kaili’s neighbouring town, are examples of fluid and uneventful movement that allows the audience to reflect.

By casting all roles to unknown actors, including his own uncle, the director’s choice of characters hindered and enabled the films fluidity. The lack of emotion and expression used by the protagonist made it tiresome to watch at times. Although Chen does not say much with body language, the audience is drawn into the various conversations played out through the film and then compelled to focus on to what is being said, or what is left unsaid.

Kaili Blues is a beautiful love story that pays homage to the director’s hometown through cinematography. The film will surprise you in many ways with its hybrid of conventional and unconventional tastes.

See MIFF website for viewing details.