An Unfinished Film
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“How about we find some time and finish the film?”
Overview
In this gripping new film from director Lou Ye (Suzhou River, Summer Palace, Spring Fever), fellow director Mao Xiaorui (playing a version of himself) reunites his cast and crew in Wuhan to finish off a film they began making a decade ago. As the new shoot nears completion in January 2020, rumours of a mysterious illness begin circulating and Director Xiaorui must decide whether to halt production once again. Scattered and quarantined about different hotels, the filmmakers communicate only via video calls while the lead actor Jiang Cheng (Qin Hao) struggles to support his wife who is now locked-down with their month-old baby in Beijing.
Winner: Best Director, Best Narrative Feature, Best Editing
"Utterly unique and very important... out of agony and chaos, [Ye] has created something mysterious, moving and even profound."
"One of the most thoughtful, truthful and tactful depictions of the pandemic ever put to screen"
"An absorbing portrait of an unfinished era"
"Runs the emotional gamut, with a pulsing naturalism"
Why You Should See This Film
While many filmmakers choose to move on from the pandemic, a time still difficult to reflect on, Lou Ye faces it head on in this one of a kind docu-drama, blending frighteningly real footage with a semi-fictional story, clearly inspired by the real thing with people playing versions of themselves. More than an emotionally truthful account of life in locked-down Wuhan or the struggles of pandemic filmmaking, An Unfinished Film is a deeply moving reflection on what it is to leave things, or to be, ‘unfinished’, regardless of world-altering events. In our book, it’s the most resonant and interesting response to this piece of recent history we’ve yet seen.
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