THE FILMTECA. Pl. town hall, 17
Continuing with its unpayable dissemination work, The Valencia film library brings us this afternoon and Friday of next week one of the last season's world cinema jewels that, To the surprise of many, He could not find accommodation in the Valencian commercial rooms on his release date two months ago. We talk about An elephant sitting still, first work of the young Chinese filmmaker Hu Bo whose talent was demonstrated in the edition of the 2018 of the Berlin Festival where he would win the Fipresci Award.
NAcid in China in 1988, Hu Bo obtains its film management diploma at the Beijing Film Academy in the year 2014. Your short filmDistant Father, He is worth the best director at the Golden Koala Chinese Film Festival of that year, And with his second short, Night Runner,would be nominated for the best short film in the Golden Horse of Taipéi. in 2017 HU BO participates in a workshop under the supervision of the great Hungarian director Béla Tarr at the International Film Festival First in China, during which he will perform the short film A Man in the Well. Hu bo is also the author of a storybook, Huge Crack(which contains the story on which this movie is based), And the novel, Bullfrog, both published in the year 2017. An Elephant SittingStill, his first feature film, It opens worldwide in the forum of the Berlinale in 2018 With great reception by critics and creating enormous admiration. Unfortunately, Soon to finish the post-production of the film and with only 29 years, Hu bo took his life.
An elephant Sitting StillIt places us north of China, in a post -industrial city that is mired in a perpetual fog that catches its inhabitants. One morning, A simple altercation between two teenagers from an institute will forge the fate of four individuals, victims of family selfishness and social violence. The only thing they all share is the same recurring obsession: flee to the city of Manzhouli where, They say, A circus elephant remains sitting for hours, still, impassive, oblivious to the problems of the world.
This simple plot line will be the excuse that will lead Hu Bo to perform an exhaustive examination of contemporary Chinese society. In the line of directors like Jia Zhang-Ke, The work of Hu Bo tries to explore the world that surrounds it roughly and without concessions. Emotions such as faith and hope in a world in which man seems to have lost all reference, palpitate after the images of this ambitious four -hour piece. In the words of the director himself: In our time, It is increasingly difficult to have faith, even in the most tiny thing, And the frustration that results has become the characteristic of our societies. The film transforms some lives trapped into daily routine into individual myths. In the end, each one must make the duel of what he appreciates the most.
The sensitivity of the Chinese director would be thus recorded in the impression that Bela Tarr himself would describe after his tragic and unexpected death: I write these words from the hotel where I met Hu bo. I receive endless candidacies of Chinese filmmaker apprentices. But when I met him, I immediately knew that I had something.It was someone very worthy. His gaze revealed a strong unusual personality. I had a real vision of the world. At work, He was a very reflective and friendly person. I listened to everyone and paid add to details. He was an impatient man, with perpetual urgency. Maybe I knew he had little time left… He did his best to get what he wanted without having to wait. He did not accept the world and the world did not accept him. We have lost a great talent filmmaker, But your movie will remain with us forever.
About his own fiction work, We cannot fail to review this state statement that, definitely, It gives us many clues of their artistic ambitions: If we admit to looking at each other with a little perspective to ourselves, Even if it was only a couple of seconds a day, We would realize that we are used to seeing pink life. We spend our whole time hanging tweets, adhering to trends, accumulating hundreds of photos on our phone waiting to be able to teach them the others… I'm not judging these behaviors, however, I think the most precious things lie in the interstices of the world, And I say it without pessimism. If we understand this, We can marvel at the smallest things.
