and working long hours all day round. His son Meng leads a life shaped by the
need to conform and violence. Where one tries to put his views into practice
and in the end fails because of migration laws, the other gives in to peer
pressure and adapts. Both act against their will, both regret it, both will not
be the same afterwards. And very far apart from each other.
This section is always good for surprises.
That should be no secret. Jumbo in 14plus, Sweet Thing in Kplus; few festivals
would probably put Míng tian bi zuo tian chang jiu in their youth section. Too
unpromising, too puzzled by a very unexpected change in tone. Perhaps also
simply too slow. What some see here as a nap or simply a training for one’s
attention span, I claim is the hidden gem of the section, maybe of the whole
festival!
(https://www.berlinale.de/de/2023/programm/202306774.html#gallery_gallery-filmstills-3)
Míng tian bi zuo tian chang jiu is a film
that elicits tears and then wipes them away itself. That moves all the time on
an exhausting path and almost completely dissolves this atmosphere with its
unexpectedly ambivalent ending. A film that is not afraid to change and
dissolve moods within seconds. Just over halfway through, the film changes out
not only the setting, but also atmosphere and many characters. It feels like
the first chapter is complete. The first of two. „Tomorrow is going to be
a long day“, with this Meng gets prepared for what is about to happen.
There couldn’t have been a better statement. The second half of the film works
so well precisely because of this break. It throws you off track and then
re-locates you, somewhere else, sometime else, and most importantly, with
different feelings. In general, it is astonishing exactly how well the
alternation of the two opposing halves works. Dramaturgically, this is
consequently far from conventions (even from the „conventions“ that
are often seen in this section) and thus even more moving. In a quiet yet
stormy way.
(https://www.berlinale.de/de/2023/programm/202306774.html#gallery_gallery-filmstills-1)uncharted territory in this regard. A coming of age film in the youth section
of a film festival, which draws from the great masters of slow Asian cinema
(Joe & Tsai) – the term demanding should be used carefully in this section,
but rarely have I seen a film here that challenges its young audience (after
all, the film is playing in the youth section) so much to stick with it. For me
it works brilliantly, I love this kind of slow-paced storytelling about
everyday life; with a touch of magical realism. But already in the following talk with
also Free Generation Reporter:innen contributor Konstantin it became clear that
at last the necessity of such a slow narrative will divide opinions. And that
is absolutely understandable. Míng tian bi zuo tian chang jiu requires one
thing in particular: post-viewing time. I doubt that this film will work very
well as part of a strictly timed Berlinale day schedule. Because this is a film
that needs to be taken in completely and cannot be digested easily. For which
time must be taken. A film that you watch at 12 pm at noon, and are still
thinking about in the evening. Because this is Berlinale at its best.
19.02.23, Yaron
