On May 16, at the 77th Cannes Film Festival, the latest work of Chinese independent director Lou Ye, titled “An Unfinished Film”, was premiered as a special screening. The film, set against the backdrop of the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan in January 2020, adopts a pseudo-documentary style to tell the story of a film crew encountering a sudden lockdown while shooting in Wuhan. The film has sparked widespread discussion on the Chinese internet.
Many netizens who have seen the film highly praised it, stating that the film awakened their memories of the three-year pandemic period. They applauded director Lou Ye for his courage and talent in the creative process, praising him for having “completely no censorship burden”. However, the film’s portrayal of the “incorrect collective memory” during the pandemic made it almost impossible to receive approval for screening in mainland China.
Lou Ye has previously had multiple works banned in mainland China, including “Suzhou River” and “Summer Palace” which involves the Tiananmen Square protests. He himself was once banned by the authorities from making films. Therefore, some netizens jokingly refer to Lou Ye as the “most banned director in China”.
Public comments excerpted by China Digital Times from platforms such as Weibo and Douban include:
“Lou Ye doesn’t really understand how to make a pseudo-documentary, but he truly understands our society. Those distant three years are now being portrayed on the big screen, along with that era, inscribed without forgetting anything.”
“Lou Ye, you are the most banned director in China.”
“I could say a thousand words, but really, it’s just one sentence – I saw a filmmaker, a group of filmmakers with conscience.”
“The best way to commemorate the pandemic is to find the real culprits.”
“It shows that you don’t need a lot of skills and techniques, just honesty. Being a little faithful to the reality of those three years is enough to shake every survivor. It only requires the courage and integrity to care.”
“How to describe the feeling of the lost three years reappearing before you? At the moment the hotel entrance was sealed off, I felt a tightness in my throat, struggling to breathe. Smelling the disinfectant in the middle, it’s the moment where I hated the interconnected senses the most. This is an unfinished film, and both you and I are ‘contributing a verse’.”
Lou Ye’s film utilizes a pseudo-documentary style, which is easily distinguishable for domestic film enthusiasts. However, foreign viewers unfamiliar with the style may need some time to realize. The film’s techniques closely resemble reality, maintaining rough image quality and overlapping voices during video calls. The use of split-screen smartphone footage solves the narrative pacing issue during individual isolation periods and seamlessly incorporates various internet video materials we all know.
In the film, Lou Ye uses more and more split screens and vertical phone screen shots. “Daily Screens” also mentioned this, noting a dialogue where the lead character, played by Qin Hao, reluctantly participates in a project and shouts at the director, “What’s the point of a movie that no one watches? This film won’t pass censorship.” They praised the film as a brilliant portrayal of an “unfinished era”.
The film has received rave reviews, with “The Guardian” awarding it a perfect 5/5 rating. They noted how the film initially appeared as a satire on Chinese media with sharp political insights but evolved into a tense, personal drama following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdown, eventually becoming a heartfelt documentary about national trauma.
Lou Ye’s film has brought to light the power of documentation to the public, showcasing how fragmented images can reconstruct parts of history and truth in various media forms. Pseudo-documentaries play a crucial role in the film’s societal and historical context, providing a personal experience of documentation and sharing emotions in a bitter yet gentle way. This is something all Chinese directors should strive for, even if approached differently.
As a creator, one cannot exist outside of the era. Perhaps different people have different ways of expression, and Lou Ye chose the most faithful to himself. “Southern Morning Post” rated Lou Ye’s Cannes new work “An Unfinished Film” as 4/5, stating that it strongly condemns the excessive interference of the state in personal life, and delivers a hymn to the resilience of the people.
The film effectively depicts and condemns the overreach of the state into personal lives, while also praising the resilience shown by individuals in the face of adversity. Lou Ye’s work is a powerful portrayal of an era that remains unfinished, capturing the silence that often speaks louder than noise, and conveying the need for time to heal the wounds.
Lou Ye’s film has left many viewers deeply moved, with the portrayal of the past three years presented without distortion, adulation, or manipulation, showcasing his greatness as an accomplished and respected director. The use of pseudo-documentary style effectively conveys the genuine emotions and realities of the depicted period, making it a poignant cinematic tribute to the challenges faced.