If 2015’s Kaili Blues (Gan Bi’s debut) was a strong sketch of a burgeoning auteur, 2018’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night is the arrival of a confident, (and more accomplished) talented new voice in cinema.
No connection (except for a somewhat literal take on the title) to the Eugene O’Neill play
Starts with the camera in bed on our protagonist in a long shot—dreaming, the strobe light, talking about memories while looking at the ceiling and then the camera reframes (in the same shot, something he does skillfully and often) on the window in the mirror (in a really nice mise-en-scene setting of the frame)
Starts with the camera in bed on our protagonist in a long shot—dreaming, the strobe light, talking about memories while looking at the ceiling and then the camera reframes (in the same shot, something he does skillfully and often) on the window in the mirror (in a really nice mise-en-scene setting of the frame)
Kaili again the location—we have noir-like voice-over, chain smoking
The running water in a meticulously designed (in the garbage art vein) Tarkovsky-like setting- 12minutes in—really well done
Gan Bi clearly is influenced by both Tarkovsky and Apichatpong Weerasethakul. Like the Thai auteur Gan Bi’s films are about dreams (and his style makes you feel like you’re in one), memory (maybe a bit of WKW here)—it is not a straight narrative and dialogue like “assuming this isn’t a hallucination” blurs things even more
A stunner of a mise-en-scene set-up at 17 minutes – the red umbrellas with the street lights- one of the strongest images in cinema in 2018
A stunner of a mise-en-scene set-up at 17 minutes – the red umbrellas with the street lights- one of the strongest images in cinema in 2018
Gan Bi’s dexterity behind the camera seems to be on display. I’m impressed—but I can see it being a turnoff for some- there’s a shot here – a tracking shot he’s doing in a moving car through the window of a girl walking—the degree of difficulty- wow
Gan Bi’s dexterity behind the camera seems to be on display. I’m impressed—but I can see it being a turnoff for some- there’s a shot here – a tracking shot he’s doing in a moving car through the window of a girl walking—the degree of difficulty- wow
Gan Bi—like Tarkovsky and Weerasethakul, lets the lingering camera take his attention away and I love it- a reoccurring shot is where he’ll start on an object, then track down to a puddle with a reflection off the puddle—another he’s shooting through a fence, or through water—nothing quite like Antonioni but he’s intentionally obstructing the frame. The pond/algae reoccurring shot is surely from Tarkovsky’s Solaris
It is art-house cinema—in another scene we see a guy eating an entire apple—minutes go by with the static camera – Chantal Akerman
Reoccurring images like a dream – the apples, the horse, the green diary, the green dress on the girl—it’s a blend of reality, memory and dreams
Gan Bi can not only move the camera with the best auteurs in cinema but set the frame as well as evidenced here
The film takes place during the summer solstice- hottest day—and then at 71 minutes we get the movie’s title (this delay of the title is another Apichatpong Weerasethakul move) and like Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s work this is wholly bifurcated—here we get the Winter Solstice and the one-take dream sequence that goes 1 hour as the entire second half of the film. Like Kaili Blues (has a 40 minute take) we get much of the long take during various modes of transportation—scooter ride, the soon to be famous zip-line shot here floating down, and then we’re up in a drone (I think) getting a gorgeous landscape of the night scene with lights and a stage. Figures from his memory pop up—ethereal—it does feel like a floating dream- extremely effective—icons like apples and watches popping up. Wenders’ Wings of Desire is another comparison with the angels floating.
the one-take dream sequence that goes 1 hour as the entire second half of the film. Like Kaili Blues (has a 40 minute take) we get much of the long take during various modes of transportation—scooter ride, the soon to be famous zip-line shot here floating down, and then we’re up in a drone (I think) getting a gorgeous landscape of the night scene with lights and a stage
It is hypnotic, a great marriage of style and effect (content/narrative seems like a stretch- haha)
I’m putting it as a Highly Recommend now but with time to unpack and/or a rewatch I could see it moving higher
@Cinephile— i steam the criterion channel, netflix and amazon prime so those are the only three i have experience with. I’ll probably add Disney plus soon. Criterion is amazing, netflix has really high quality and curates and swaps out some good titles and amazon had a ton of selection… I also have cable and DVR a ton of Turner Classic Movies. Sorry- not sure if that answers your question or not. I guess it just depends on what you’re looking for.
@Drake and Randy White, thanks for answering, I’m obsessed with the criterion Channel right now, I mean it’s a cinephile’s dream, netflix is also really good but it has a lot of terrible movies also in it.
Loaded with ambition, splendid in its execution, ritch as a concept and improbable in its visual style, Long Day’s Journey Into Night is a film I came around recently. Its astonishing also in its use of narrative and wondrous structure. The long-take stunner is smashing and cracking as anything cinema 2018 has given us and the camerawork is howling. In my opinion, it deserves without a doubt a place in your 100 best of the decade.
I just revisited both Kaili blues and Long day’s journey into night and I’m in awe of how much of an improvement this one is. I mean, I like Kaili blues quite a bit and it has some fantastic moments in it, but Long day’s journey takes Bi Gan’s vision to another level. The narrative is way stronger, more engaging and more focused. The sparse musical theme adds a lot of character to the story. Both leads do a wonderful job. Huang Jue’s silent, melancholic performance gives me some strong Tony Leung’s vibes (which is always a positive in my book and makes perfect sense given the fact that this film certainly borrows from Wong Kar-wai’s universe), and Tang Wei is as captivating as she would be a few years later in Decision to leave.
And then we have the visuals. Bi Gan is an incredibly elegant and sensitive filmmaker. It’s not just the long take, the rest of the film is beautiful to look at. The lighting, the use of red and green, those slow tracking shots, the recurrent visual motifs, all these things work really, really well together and give the whole work an evanescent quality that suits the story perfectly.
Of course, the final long take is just a beauty to behold, as opposed to the one from Kaili blues, which I had a few problems with. I mean, a 40-minute long take is always going to be impressive in my eyes and I can’t help but applauding Bi Gan’s ambition, but Kaili blues’s take suffered greatly from rustic camera movement and a lot of serious pacing issues that took a lot of energy away from the experience. In fact, I actually think it might be the weakest part of the movie, because the first half of the film is packed with gourgeous shots and an incredibly tasteful use of the landscapes, something Chinese directors do better than anybody.
Not only is Long day’s journey’s long take more ambitious from a technical standpoint, but it’s also better conceived than Kaili blues’s, which makes the pacing here near-perfect. It’s just much better executed overall. With Kaili blues, there were several times when I was like “come on, dude, I get it, stop this, please”, whereas with this one I was so invested that I didn’t want it to end.
Long day’s journey into night is a film that has it all, I think. It has style to spare, thematic depth, good character work and beautiful performances. I would say it’s a clear MS after a second viewing and it sits very comfortably in my top 50 of the decade. I have to say, we talk a lot about how great 2019 was, but 2018 was also an extraordinary year for cinema. The favourite, Roma, Hereditary, Cold war, An elephant sitting still, Long day’s journey into night, Ash is purest white, Burning, House of hummingbird, The realm, Annihilation, Into the Spider-verse, Sorry to bother you… Just one killer film after another. It makes you look at this decade and just shake your head in utter discontent.
What is the best streaming service and place for movies in general in your opinion?
@Cinephile— i steam the criterion channel, netflix and amazon prime so those are the only three i have experience with. I’ll probably add Disney plus soon. Criterion is amazing, netflix has really high quality and curates and swaps out some good titles and amazon had a ton of selection… I also have cable and DVR a ton of Turner Classic Movies. Sorry- not sure if that answers your question or not. I guess it just depends on what you’re looking for.
Not the person you’re talking to but Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, Disney Plus, The Criterion Channel, HBO, and Vudu.
@Drake and Randy White, thanks for answering, I’m obsessed with the criterion Channel right now, I mean it’s a cinephile’s dream, netflix is also really good but it has a lot of terrible movies also in it.
Loaded with ambition, splendid in its execution, ritch as a concept and improbable in its visual style, Long Day’s Journey Into Night is a film I came around recently. Its astonishing also in its use of narrative and wondrous structure. The long-take stunner is smashing and cracking as anything cinema 2018 has given us and the camerawork is howling. In my opinion, it deserves without a doubt a place in your 100 best of the decade.
@Nathan – thanks for sharing. It certainly looks like Gan Bi will be a force to be reckoned with. Exciting auteur.
I just revisited both Kaili blues and Long day’s journey into night and I’m in awe of how much of an improvement this one is. I mean, I like Kaili blues quite a bit and it has some fantastic moments in it, but Long day’s journey takes Bi Gan’s vision to another level. The narrative is way stronger, more engaging and more focused. The sparse musical theme adds a lot of character to the story. Both leads do a wonderful job. Huang Jue’s silent, melancholic performance gives me some strong Tony Leung’s vibes (which is always a positive in my book and makes perfect sense given the fact that this film certainly borrows from Wong Kar-wai’s universe), and Tang Wei is as captivating as she would be a few years later in Decision to leave.
And then we have the visuals. Bi Gan is an incredibly elegant and sensitive filmmaker. It’s not just the long take, the rest of the film is beautiful to look at. The lighting, the use of red and green, those slow tracking shots, the recurrent visual motifs, all these things work really, really well together and give the whole work an evanescent quality that suits the story perfectly.
Of course, the final long take is just a beauty to behold, as opposed to the one from Kaili blues, which I had a few problems with. I mean, a 40-minute long take is always going to be impressive in my eyes and I can’t help but applauding Bi Gan’s ambition, but Kaili blues’s take suffered greatly from rustic camera movement and a lot of serious pacing issues that took a lot of energy away from the experience. In fact, I actually think it might be the weakest part of the movie, because the first half of the film is packed with gourgeous shots and an incredibly tasteful use of the landscapes, something Chinese directors do better than anybody.
Not only is Long day’s journey’s long take more ambitious from a technical standpoint, but it’s also better conceived than Kaili blues’s, which makes the pacing here near-perfect. It’s just much better executed overall. With Kaili blues, there were several times when I was like “come on, dude, I get it, stop this, please”, whereas with this one I was so invested that I didn’t want it to end.
Long day’s journey into night is a film that has it all, I think. It has style to spare, thematic depth, good character work and beautiful performances. I would say it’s a clear MS after a second viewing and it sits very comfortably in my top 50 of the decade. I have to say, we talk a lot about how great 2019 was, but 2018 was also an extraordinary year for cinema. The favourite, Roma, Hereditary, Cold war, An elephant sitting still, Long day’s journey into night, Ash is purest white, Burning, House of hummingbird, The realm, Annihilation, Into the Spider-verse, Sorry to bother you… Just one killer film after another. It makes you look at this decade and just shake your head in utter discontent.