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An Elephant Sitting Still

Da xiang xi di er zuo

2018

Hu Bo

Zhang Yu, Peng Yuchang, Wang Uvin, Li Congxi ...

7.5

1,827

Drama In the northern Chinese city of Manzhouli, they say there is an elephant that simply sits and ignores the world. Manzhouli becomes an obsession for the protagonists of this film, a longed-for escape from the downward spiral in which they find themselves. Among them is schoolboy Bu, on the run after pushing Shuai down the stairs, who was bullying him previously. Bu's classmate Ling has run away from her mother and fallen for the charms ... [+]

	Media	Author	Review
		Clarence Tsui The Hollywood Reporter	"[It] weaves together its narrative threads clearly and sturdily (...) Hu's characters remain very real, and they are never shown as indulgent to the point of being above the banalities of everyday life"
		A. O. Scott The New York Times	"[A] rigorously bleak, powerfully absorbing feature (...) [It] shows a restless and original visual sensibility"
		David Ehrlich IndieWire	"The first and last masterpiece of a great filmmaker gone too soon (...) Hard to sit through and impossible to forget"
		Zhuo-Ning Su The Film Stage	"[It] is the work of raw, intimidating talent driven by a creative fury (...) Unmissable for anyone craving the gritty realism and independent spirit of pre-00’s Chinese cinema"
		Justine Smith rogerebert.com	"It is impossible to watch its final act and not feel the warming sensation that maybe tomorrow will be different, bringing change and offering beauty, love or hope (…) Rating: ★★★½ (out of 4)"
		Sarah Ward Screendaily	"An impressive achievement (...) Hu paints a picture of existential malaise with such a fine-tuned control of mood, imagery and pacing that the end result resembles a marriage of Jia Zhangke and Bela Tarr."
		Phil Hoad The Guardian	"Hu’s single-minded stylistic focus builds into a panorama of a society with a true moralist’s eye (...) Hu provides no easy resolutions (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"
		Hanna Flint Time Out	"Hu Bo paints a bleak portrait of China, bolstered by a lead cast delivering understated and nuanced performances (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 5)"

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