So Long My Son (12A)

Veteran director Wang Xiaoshuai returns with this magnificent family saga that spans the tail-end of the 20th century in China.

Epic in scope, it charts the collective emotional history of the country’s one-child policy and the Cultural Revolution. Yaojun and Liyun’s son drowns after being goaded into swimming by his pal Haohao. The grieving parents leave their factory jobs and move away from their friends, Haohao’s own parents, who have better fortune in life. Years later, Yaojun and Liyun return. Moving between past and present in sweeping tableaux, the film illustrates how individuals are caught in the gears of a society in the throes of constant dramatic change. Its considerable power is bolstered by award-winning performances from Wang Jingchun and Yong Mei as an ordinary couple struggling to cope with the forces affecting their lives.

Director: Wang Xiaoshuai
Starring: Liya Ai, Jiang Du, Zhao-Yan Guo-Zhang, Jingjing Li, Xi Qi
China, 2019, 3 hours 5 minutes

“…weaving together buoyant celebration and needle pricks of sadness… It’s a gorgeous, melancholy masterpiece.”  Wendy Ide, The Observer

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