Kaili Blues

Debut films can be problematic; some are self-assured masterpieces, others bear signs of greatness, while others don’t get any attention until the director's career peaks with a hit film sometimes years afterward. Kaili Blues is another matter in terms in the league of first features. The film has some frayed edges, however, the final product is a transfixing experience with technical prowess, solid performances, and narrative depth; so much so that I think it’s safe to say we can expect great things from Bi Gan in the future. The word “transportive” has a dual meaning in film language; a movie can be a travelogue-like narrative, or an informal documentary in which you are an observer, however in the case of Bi Gan, Kaili Blues, is an experiential journey that seduces its audience on a conscious level. Compared to Crosscurrent, another visually rapturous feature from China which could be interpreted as visually enriching but dissociative, Kaili Blues engages it’s audience with a story about a provincial doctor named Chen Seng, who's recently sprung from prison. His brother is involved in some shady criminal activities. Chen Seng (a weathered and hypnotic mournfully stern Yongzhong Chen) takes to the countryside to perform a series of sentimental errands for his elderly co-worker, while looking for his estranged nephew thanks to his unpredictable criminal brother who may have sold his kid. Gan’s film can be broken into two acts, "home" and "abroad". The first a delicately framed social drama, the later, mostly a forty minute uninterrupted run of the camera detailing a real time ‘day in the life” of a coastal Dang Mai town that is something of a marvel. Satisfying on an artistic and technical level (not solely impressive because it’s complicated, or “we did it because we could” or look what we can do!”) it’s a remarkably captured feat that elaborates a revelatory tonal shift and will have you marveling at the technique. Kaili Blues is an extraordinary film that demands to be seen by anyone who wants something new.

