Shadow days
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Shadow Days (Gui Ri Zi) |
| Country of production | People's Republic of China |
| original language | Mandarin |
| Publishing year | 2014 |
| length | 95 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Zhao Dayong |
| script | Zhao Dayong , Fu Xinhua |
| production | Zhao Dayong , David Bandurski (Lantern Films China); May Liu (Skyforth Investment Fund Management) |
| music | Zhu Fangqiong |
| camera | Zhang Tianhui |
| cut | Li Qing , Zhang Tianhui |
| occupation | |
| |
Shadow days (鬼 日子Gui Ri Zi ) is a 2014 film by Zhao Dayong .
action
Liang Renwei and his pregnant girlfriend Pomegranate withdraw to a remote city to live with their distant relative. This "uncle" is the mayor of the small town and takes Liang into his unofficial force to enforce the one-child policy. After a few successfully enforced sterilizations and forced abortions, Pomegranate's unborn babies are also in danger. The mayor, on the other hand, is increasingly being persecuted by the spirits of the unborn and tries by all means - shamanic rituals, Christian prayers, and sacrifices in front of a Mao altar - to drive these spirits away.
background
The director describes the portrayal of the implementation of family planning policy and the associated human rights violations as "cautious".
The two men, Liang Renwei and the mayor, are morally reprehensible. While Liang Renwei has received no moral education or guidelines and is - uncertainly - oriented towards power and money, the mayor has no choice: he has to implement the family planning guidelines of his superiors.
The original title 鬼 日子Gui ri zi can be translated as "ghost time" and refers on the one hand to the ghosts that the mayor sees and on the other hand to the "ghosts of the past" from the time of the cultural revolution, whose values and ideas are still in today China are present.
The film is set in Zhiziluo, a city abandoned in 1985 that is also the subject of the director's documentary Ghost Town (2008) .
reception
The film was shown for the first time at the 64th Berlinale Forum on February 7, 2014. The first Asian screening is planned for the 38th Hong Kong International Film Festival at the end of March 2014. An official screening is not planned in the PRC.
Web links
- Shadow days in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Official Facebook page for the film