REVIEWS
Post-film thoughts.
The Wedding Banquet: A Beloved Queer Text, Refreshed
Ahn’s The Wedding Banquet is an ambitious and multi-layered adventure. Against themes of queer and cultural identity, found and chosen family, the story deconstructs its characters to their most vulnerable forms and their actors bring to the table a well of lived experience and intelligence that acts as the glue pulling everything together.
LUZ: Worlds Intertwined
Flora Lau’s LUZ (花明渡) follows two narratives intertwined across three distinct settings. The main storylines take place in Paris and Chongqing, both connected through virtual reality.
100 Yards: A Hidden Ode To Chinese Martial Arts Cinema
A directorial collaboration between brothers Xu Haofeng and Xu Junfeng, 100 Yards (2023) is a martial arts film set against the backdrop of a westernizing 1920s Northern China. When an influential martial arts master passes away and appoints his apprentice Quan as his successor, the master’s son An engages the apprentice in a power struggle that upheaves both their martial arts circle and the entire city.
DÌDI (弟弟): A Son’s Coming of Age
Though this film is largely a coming-of-age story, what shines through isn’t Chris’s journey to find himself. Rather, it’s the touching and sincere relationship between him and his mother, the only person who loves him so purely.
7 Beats Per Minute: Of Consciousness and Human Connection
On the surface, ‘7 Beats Per Minute’ is about freediving and the prodigy champion Jessea Lu. But at its core, it is a story of emotional suppression and discovery, unshakeable determination, and the profound act of breathing.