Gan Bi's Kaili Blues is a film that is nearly impossible to quantify, a singular vision that's remarkably assured while being elusive in its evocation of time, memory, and humanity. Centered around Chen, an ex-convict in his perceived late 40s or early 50s, Kaili Blues documents his modest life working at a medical facility in Kaili, as he attempts to re-assimilate back into society, but more importantly reconnect with his half-brother and come to terms with the recent death of his mother. Featuring a voice over which routinely recites poems set in a world of solitude and sorrow, Kaili Blues is a contemplative study of a soul-searching and redemption, opaquely exhibiting a sense of how expansive life is, with humanity feeling miniscule in the grand scheme of time and space. Kaili Blues documents a soul adrift, showing a remarkable ability to delivery soul-stirring contemplation in such economic ways, evoking a true sense of solitude and sadness in this character which merely would not be achieved through didactic, more dialogue driven ways. Kaili Blues can be so internalized that it takes on a science fiction type atmosphere, as it documents a character who is trying to readjust in a world that waits for no one. Playing with time and memory, Kaili Blues is a film that is best to simply let wash over you, revealing its main protagonists psyche through a complex network of his experiences. Nothing at all is spelled out or told to the viewer, outside of tone poems, with Gan Bi creating a film that feels universally human. The film captures how experience and memory haunt and shape the psyche of an individual, delivering a potent portrait usually only seen in well-made documentaries. Visually Kaili Blues is nothing short of striking, featuring an observant lens hellbent on documenting the environment in which this character inhabits. Kaili Blues's slow pans and oscillating photography beautifully documents the dingy-lit hallways and deteriorating interiors which Chen inhabits, while also capturing the vast, expansiveness of the outside landscapes, with China's south-central Guizhou province being one of subtropical highlands. This juxtaposition of constriction and expansion beautifully exhibts the tale in which Gan Bi wishes to tell, one where Chen's internal struggles are only exacerbated by the coldness of the large world which we inhabit that is called life as we know it. The visual design of Gan Bi's Kaili Blues evokes the mood and emotions of its main protagonist, with the voiceover providing further context, together making Gan Bi's Kaili Blues a truly stunning, singular piece of cinema that should not be missed by fans of more challenging, obtuse cinema.
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AuthorLove of all things cinema brought me here. Archives
June 2023
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