SUBURBAN BIRDS (narrative)
Price: $350.00 Code: 2595 |
Directed by Qiu Sheng
2019, 113 minutes
Purchase: $350
Ships Q3, 2019
A striking debut from China’s Qiu Sheng, SUBURBAN BIRDS is a tantalizing mystery and a bittersweet coming-of-age comedy rolled into one. Hao (Mason Lee) is part of a team of young engineers called in to investigate a series of craters that have opened up on the edge of the city. As he and his team survey the subsiding area, another story is taking place in the same suburban landscape. A younger boy, also named Hao, spends long afternoons playing with friends and making mischief until one-by-one, his playmates start to disappear. As these parallel stories unfold, the connections between them proliferate and grow stranger.
With virtuosic assurance, Qiu employs distinct styles for each of the two narrative strands and unites them with a wry and wistful sense of humor. SUBURBAN BIRDS is both a reflection on the slippery nature of memory as well as a comment on China’s rapid urbanization that heralds the arrival of an exciting new voice.
Subjects & Collections
Festivals & Awards
OFFICIAL SELECTION - New Directors/New Films 2019OFFICIAL SELECTION - San Francisco International Film Festival 2019
OFFICIAL SELECTION - Locarno International Film Festival 2018
Reviews
NYT Critic's Pick, "A spectacular opening debut... Its observations on the expanding cityscapes of China recall the work of Jia Zhangke (“Ash Is Purest White”), while its near-mystical quietude has accents one recognizes in the films of Apichatpong Weerasethakul."
- Glenn Kenny, The New York Times
"So good—and delightfully kinked—that it’s well worth catching now (and watching twice)."
- Manohla Dargis, The New York Times
"Qiu Sheng's stylish debut feature is a seductively inscrutable puzzler."
- Guy Lodge, Variety
"'Stand by Me' meets Kafka's 'The Castle.'"
- Leslie Felperin, The Hollywood Reporter
Trailer
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