gotta wait till Friday to watch this. also thinking about finally watching Bi Gan's first 2 features as well

That is a completely ridiculous statement to make but also I never said it should get a wide release lmao. This is actually getting a much wider release than most of Janus' films which never leave NYC and LA

The point remains that they mostly just do not distribute their films and instead opt to put them on the Criterion Channel and/or release them physically

this looks dope af

I think it'll help cus he has a very specific style that's not widely appealing...at all. Surprised he's getting as much interest in U.S. as he is rn. Maybe his 2nd one might be worth checking out

I was introduced to Bi in a college Chinese Cinemas course I took. We were assigned his first film Kaili Blues and tbh its a hard one not to fall asleep on. I don't mean that in a bad way, he just is a very slow, long take guy who's messaging is hidden in details.

He's fleshed that out into being able to pull of incredibly extravagant. hour long 1 takes. Lot's of amazing talent here too. As for the story...we'll see.

Was debating checking this in MD this weekend but seeing its opening up in DC next week. Might just wait.

Long Day's Journey Into Night

That is a completely ridiculous statement to make. The local arthouse theater here has been getting films like Caught By the Tides, Vermiglio, Godland, EO, The Shrouds, and plenty others, and I live in a mid-size city that isn't located in NY or CA. I'm not saying that they are perfect with their distribution strategies but they aren't doing anything different compared to other distributors.

This just feels like you're upset that your local theater isn't prioritizing these films.

both his films are on CC I didn’t get Kaili Blues yet

I actually tried watching Kaili Blues like a long time ago but I wasn't vibing with it for the first 15 minutes. Mainly because I wasn't really clicking with Slow Cinema at the time. Thankfully that's changed within the past couple of years, so I'm hoping that I can get on board the Bi Gan train.

really f***ed with this, some parts felt a little meandering but the last hour is incredible. gonna be thinking about that ending for a while

This was fun. I got lost in the vignettes most of the time and would forget there was an overarching narrative going on at the same time. I enjoyed all of the short stories but the temple one and the orphan one were my fav. Gotta give his other work a try now.

Short stories? Wait is this an anthology similar to like French dispatch?

I think in the credits they’re called chapters. But there’s no real link to each story. The only link is the lady going inside and telling the stories I think it’s just semantics really.

I mean I guess I could see some correlation to FD

Finally saw this today.

It’s funny, the first couple sections I felt like I was totally picking up what Bi Gan was putting down. Almost in a surprisingly obvious sense - not to say they were shallow at all. But the first couple sections I think Bi Gan is really giving a very clear dialogue about art, what threatens the life of art, how are dreams and subconscious / how our spiritual connection to art gives life purpose without having to force a need for eternal life. Really fun to chew on all these philosophical questions.

And then, once the film goes to the temple / spirit of bitterness section I felt dumb because suddenly nothing was obvious anymore haha. You kind of just need to stop trying to make too much assigned meaning sense of it and just let it wash over you. Which, this is my philosophy with his prior work too, again, I think the clear messaging of the first 45 mins or so of the film sort of tricks you into thinking this is something with easy answers.

Long Days Journey Into Night is still my favorite work of his, but f***ing hell man is he a visionary. He knows how to stage a scene and a set unlike anyone else. This is also randomly the funniest he’s ever been.

Move over One Battle. This is my #1 of 2025!!!

Holy f*** this was hard as brixxxx

Deadass?

Sounds amazing actually

Not in any theatres near me is it on VOD??

Out now on Twitter VOD 👀

Twitter vod lmao

Streaming on Criterion Channel

s*** fire?

I’ll answer that when I actually watch

need to rewatch this since i had to sit in the very last row in the theater and couldn't see s*** due to the distance