The outbreak of the pandemic in China seen through the filming of a movie

We're in a good season of film releases by Chinese filmmakers of the so-called sixth generation, those who debuted at the end of the century under the shadow of Tiananmen Square, with an alternative aesthetic compared to more veteran directors and a more critical attitude towards state policies. Adrift by Jia Zhangke and Black Dog by Guan Hu, is now added They have unfinished film (released here with the title in Spanish: An unfinished film). The director is Lou Ye, known for titles such as Suzhou River (2000), a filmmaker with a special sensitivity for melodrama and dissident sexualities who has often had problems with the authorities.

They have unfinished film share with Adrift The desire to revisit China's recent past through its own filmography. The starting point is the fictional meeting of Lou Ye's regular crew to resume filming a movie that had remained unfinished ten years ago. Can the creative spirit that was interrupted a decade ago be recovered? This seems to be the reflection posed by a film set near Wuhan, when the COVID-19 pandemic suddenly breaks out. The discourse on the difficulty of carrying out a creative project takes on new nuances and ends up mutating into a context that reflects the beginning of this global crisis from within. Lou Ye follows different characters who are confined inside a hotel, especially the actor in his film, to show from an intimate perspective the impact of the first weeks of confinement. And it ends by celebrating the resilience of citizens.