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The Falls the debut of a young Chinese director, Zhou Lidong, shown during the Warsaw Film Festival’s International Competition, has (it seems) a simple and catchy idea. The goal is to show the darker sides of life in commitment to corporate reality. The film was based, according to the description, on the so-called “authentic experiences” of Lidong’s friends-entrepreneurs. How to measure the “authenticity” of such an experience? What does an inauthentic experience look like? Are there media that are not based on experience?

I allow myself for a little bit of japery because Lidong’s problem is apparently a result of a lack of experience. And it’s not about the directing or technical workshop – you can forgive a lot of glitches in the debut – but the sense of scriptwriting (Lidong also wrote the script) aesthetics, the ability to select and listen intelligently. To some extent I am able to understand where the enthusiasm for recording buddy stories comes from. All you need to do is meet your friends, drink a few beers, tell some cheerful and spectacular stories (or rather stories that will keep you cheering up) and you can make plans to write a book or make a movie. The merriment, however, will pass quickly and it is probably better that after there is no recording left.

Warsaw Film Festival – press materials

All right, I am bullying the poor man. The problem is that building the world on buddy anecdotes has a very limited range. I do not feel the need to spectate fragmented genre scenes, if they cease to be an addition and become the key script feature. What can an awkward scenes in the toilet, where there is always a lack of paper actually tell me? Well, that there is no toilet paper, nothing more. Tautology, a pleonasm.

Instead of dealing responsibly and seriously with the destructive monotony of life without enthusiasm and personal ambitions, Lidong seems to be trying to copy his friends’ stories one-to-one, without any ideas for a coherent narrative. You can see the nervous stitching of the script in the amount of additional, unnecessary characters in the gaping hole of The Falls’ space. In the tangible awkwardness of some scenes, one can see the lack of director’s experience. Finally, you can see a lack of intuition when it comes to director’s own technical capabilities. A little more work, and emptiness could become an asset, some modification effort, and digressiveness could become a binder of the whole movie instead of being a failed joke.

Several years ago, during the Warsaw Film Festival, a film by Indian debutant, Ruchika Oberoi was shown. The Island City had a similar topic as The Falls. Despite the glaring kitsch and modest possibilities, the artist was able to make these obstacles work in her favor, cleverly approaching the topic. Although Oberoi’s film was not outstanding, it was a whole lot better than Lidong’s creation. A pity.

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Mateusz Tarwacki

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Laura Przybylska
Laura Przybylska

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