Long Day’s Journey into Night – Di qiu zui hou de ye wan (2018)

Directed by: Bi Gan | 138 minutes | drama | Actors: Tang Wi, Huang Jue, Sylvia Chang, Lee Hong-Chi, Chen Yongzhong, Luo Feiyang, Zeng Meihuizi, Tuan Chun-hao, Bi Yanmin, Xie Lixun, Qi Xi, Dao Ming, Long Zezhi

As poetic as it is incomprehensible, as dull as it is hypnotic. ‘Long Day’s Journey into Night’ by Chinese filmmaker Bi Gan (this is only his second feature) is a mystery that remains unsolved. What the story is about is actually not even important, but for some guidance it might be nice to know: Luo has returned to Kaili because his father has passed away. He had no intention of ever visiting the city again, but as things go, he is now back in the once-familiar environment. The city triggers a lot of memories; the love affair he had with Wan Qiwen (Tang Wei) at the turn of the century, with a friend he had called Wildcat, but who turned out to be murdered. Roughly speaking, the first half of this 130-minute film is about the present with mixed memories of that time. Memories that are probably not always pure.

That knowledge obscures the film experience: and so you have to let that go. The story is subordinate to the images and the atmosphere, because what you see does not have to have actually happened, so there is no need to attach any consequences to it. You witness Luo’s frantic attempts to reconstruct his past, but to what extent his memory fails him or to what extent he is a reliable narrator, the viewer does not know, nor does Bi Gan let the viewer know.

What’s left then? A lot of symbolism, to which the viewer can give meaning. Unparalleled images of a city in which nothing seems to be whole. Dilapidated buildings, no roof that won’t leak, neon lights that reappear in puddles of rain in which drops make circles. Mysterious encounters, conversations that are about nothing, but at the same time move just as easily. And of course that now famous (and rightly) long single take of 59 minutes, in which the viewer is taken with Luo in a dream-like experience he has after falling asleep in the cinema himself. It’s as if Bi Gan wants to prove with this breathtaking scene that he has discovered the place where dreams are made. In any case, you believe it immediately.

It is nevertheless good to imagine that you have to fight against sleep yourself, but if you manage to stay awake (you could interpret Bi Gan’s choice to let his main character doze off in a cinema as self-mockery), then you will conclude that ‘Long Day’s Journey into Night’ is without a doubt a special film experience. Chances are you’ll want to see it again. Let go of your desire for a coherent story and let yourself be carried away to the slow rhythm of this visual, hallucinatory spectacle and enjoy!