Biennale di Venezia

Qin Hao, Lu Zhong and Feng Yuanzheng in "Red Amnesia"

A slow-starter that evolves into a haunting account of damages endured, inflicted and forgotten

Venice Film Festival (Competition; also in Toronto festival)

Lu Zhong, Shi Liu, Feng Yuanzheng, Qin Hao, Amanda Qin

Wang Xiaoshuai

VENICE As the title suggests, Red Amnesia considers the selective memory that erases past stains as contemporary China continues its frantic sprint to become a social and economic superpower. Wang Xiaoshuai's latest is somewhat bipolar, beginning as an unhurried mystery about the harassment of an elderly widow before abruptly switching gears more than halfway through to take an unsentimental plunge into the past. Combining elements of melodrama and thriller with a strong political subtext, this is a challenging work that guards its secrets closely but builds cumulative power.

The film represents a return to complex territory for the Sixth Generation director who first turned heads with the underground feature The Days in 1993 and then had his biggest international breakthrough with the neorealist homage Beijing Bicycle in 2001. Wang considers the new film the completion of a trilogy about the legacy of past social and political movements, following Shanghai Dreams and 11 Flowers.

The story's central character is the stubborn, elderlyDeng, played with cantankerous charm and fragility by stage veteran Lu Zhong. Her complaints of receiving anonymous phone calls are initially dismissed by doctors and by her grown children as the product of an aging mind.

Determined to remain useful and reluctant to give up her role as the traditional caregiver, she barges uninvited and without warning into the home of her gay son Bing (Qin Hao) to cook for him, although she makes no secret of her disapproval of the way he lives his life. The casual establishment of his relationship with a male lover, and Deng's refusal even to acknowledge the other man's presence, are beautifully handled. Time spent with her elder son, Jun (Feng Yuanzheng), is made equally tense by the irritation of Deng's daughter-in-law (Amanda Qin), sparked by the old woman's intrusive manner.

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Red Amnesia (Chuangru zhe): Venice Review