Parkland of Decay and Fantasy
Asian Cinema
•
1h 41m
Directed by Chenliang Zhu | 101 mins | 2022
Technology and spirituality are parallel forces in an abandoned and possibly haunted Chinese amusement park once taken over by outsider artists. If it is true that at the moment of death, consciousness sends out its last waves of thought into the universe, much like a text message sent from a mobile phone, the old theme park may be an antennae receiving signals from the beyond. Physical, spiritual and virtual realities are layered as the film explores how the gap between the dreams and realities of its wayward residents resonates with the highs and lows of China’s rapid economic growth over the past 30 years.
Up Next in Asian Cinema
-
P. P. Rider
Leaving February 1
Directed by Shinji Sômai | 118 mins | 1983
Adapted from a story by Leonard Schrader—yes, Paul’s brother—"P.P. Rider" is a cheeky, playful, and consistently surprising adventure yarn about three young friends who, having witnessed the kidnapping of their school bully, set out o... -
Stray Dogs
Directed by Tsai Ming-liang | 135 mins | 2013
Tsai’s devastating minimalist portrait of urban desolation, destitution and defeat is a gorgeous cinematic lament starring Lee Kang-sheng as a single father of two who ekes out a subsistence living by working as a human signboard while his hungry chil... -
Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance
Directed by Park Chan Wook | 116 mins | 2002
Fired from his factory job, the deaf, gentle Ryu finds work in the underworld—and begins on a path that will end in an explosion of visceral violence. A brutal, claustrophobic film of escalating desperation, illustrating with grim logic how an ordinary...