No Substance #96: Kaili Blues

Today is a public holiday. I’ve worked for myself so long now that I only have the faint memories what that was like. It was nice, I remember. You were paid to do nothing. Or you were paid twice as much to do something.

This week, I’m going to talk about a film called Kaili Blues, directed by Bi Gan.

Kaili Blues was released back in 2015, which seems like a lifetime ago now. It follows Chen Sheng, an ex-convict who now works as a doctor in the rundown town that he grew up in. His brother lives in the town as well, as does his nephew. After a while it becomes clear to Chen that his brother has sold his nephew to another man, and so Chen sets out to bring his nephew back. In doing so, he arrives in a town called Dangmai.

Dangmai is another small town, but unlike the one that Chen lives in, Dangmai is caught in an unexplained time loop, and those who enter it find themselves running into their past and their future, and the people who are part of it. This part of Kaili Blues comes towards the mid-point and occupies the heart of the film. It takes place in a wonderful 41 minute continuous shot that follows Chen around Dangmai, as he meets his older nephew, his dead wife, and many others who have been mentioned in passing or who you’ve met before. Bi’s camera drifts from actor to actor as Chen meets them, and will follow these new characters and Chen as they cross a bridge, have their hair cut, and go to a concert. All the events that take place fold back into each other, telling you not just who they are now, but who they were and who they will be.