Recently, Chinese film critics have discussed the 'South China New Wave' to describe independent films since the 2010s. These films integrate the geographical and cultural elements of the subtropical regions south of the Yangtze River, known for their hypnotic and humid atmosphere. This presentation explores the characteristics of this movement through the depiction of dream in Kaili Blues (Bi Gan, 2015). Unlike some Sixth Generation films, where dreams empower characters and challenge mainstream values with on-the-spot realism, directors like Bi Gan reduce characters' agency, drawing from Chinese traditions such as the commentary of the mirror in Taoism. This shift may reflect a different understanding of reality, possibly linked to the introspective nature of directors unfamiliar with the democratic movements of 1980s in China. In Kaili Blues, the dreamy sequence blurs reality and imagination by connecting images like cottages and birds from batik to real Miao village. Bi Gan uses long takes to juxtapose couples from various timelines, merging past, present, and future. Emotions related to personal trauma, root-searching, and urbanization anxiety are distinctly portrayed among different couples. In this way, the camera's seamless navigation erases and reconstructs emotions through random triggers. In conclusion, the dream in Kaili Blues create a pseudo-environment of layered emotions, facilitating a continuous dialogue and reconfiguration with themselves, others, and mainstream values in China. Here, realism is portrayed as a realm of robust phenomena displaying dependencies and inferred across various perspectives.

Authors:
Hongbin Wang, Tokyo University, Japan

About the Presenter(s)
Mr. Wang is currently a doctoral student of film studies at Tokyo University, Tokyo, Japan.

See this presentation on the full schedule – Saturday Schedule

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