Synopsis

On a normal day, a stranger breaks into Sumire's apartment and assaults her. Sumire reacts incredibly calm to the incident, but still feels the dangers and uncertainties creeping upon her. All that seemed to be peaceful and ordinary starts to collapse.  As everything slips toward the unexpected, Sumire starts writing again and reinvestigating the relationships around her.

Curators’ note

In this film which evokes a profound resonance in the audience on urban life and women’s issues in contemporary Japanese cinema, the rising female director Zhang Yu presents her acute insight into the relationship between society and the individual through concise and precise cinematic language. In everyday details, she embodies intangible stress and indifference, making the audience truly feel the immense tension between a female’s internal breakdown and external composure. For Sumire, every male who appears in her life can be a potential threat. Her silence and endurance are as fragile as a candle flickering in the wind, yet as resilient as a star against the dark. When order collapses and meaning vanishes, can humanity repair those relationships that were once cherished? ( translated by Yingjie Wang)

Director’s bio

Yu Zhang, Chinese director and screenwriter. She developed a strong passion for novels and later to pursue a career in filmmaking to experiment and explore ways to express herself through cinema.

Director‘s statement

I'm deeply interested in the complex and subtle emotions and relationships between people, often residing in unspoken and shadowy territories. The closer the relationship is, the more intricate and unpredictable it becomes. Therefore, I wish to create a suspenseful film centered around "relationships."

 The story begins with destruction and concludes with rebuilding. After a woman is assaulted by an violent intrusion, she strives to maintain calmness in an attempt to continue her life on the surface. However, it became harder and harder to conceal as changes unfold, one after another. She must re-examine everything around her and discover that the issues tried to ignore subconsciously in the past are now surfacing. The occurrence of violence serves as an opening.

 The film depicts how she confronts the deep-seated fears that have already invaded her life, confronts the love and malice within those relationships, and accepts her own self-loathing and despair. These are Sumire's most difficult days, but perhaps, shattering is not necessarily a negative occurrence, because destruction signifies the light for new changes.

Festival & Awards

2023

7th Pingyao IFF

Roberto Rossellini Honorary Best Film (Nominee)

Most Popular Film in the Crouching Tigers Section

Casts

Saori, Anam Sekiguchi

Credits

Scriptwriter: Yu Zhang, Marina Kikuchi

Cinematographer: Rui Seki

Composer: Zheng Quan

Production Design: Yihui Sun

Editor: Yua Adachi