Li Dongmei‘s debut feature, Mama (2020), was nominated at the 77th Venice International Film Festival and the 45th Hong Kong International Film Festival, and awarded at the 44th Göteborg Film Festival and the 4th Pingyao International Film Festival. Five years later, the Chinese director presents her second work – a drama that focuses on a young couple’s relationship.
Guo Ran is screening at International Film Festival Rotterdam
Yu (Manxuan Li) lives with her boyfriend (Yitong Wang) in a tiny flat. Although she is in the early stages of pregnancy and needs her partner to be present, he becomes consumed by work or any other distraction that helps him avoid confronting the status of their relationship.
The film starts with Yu sitting alone on a bed, as she reads about a human embryo, and then talks on the phone, but the viewer can’t hear the other person. This scene sets the tone for the entire movie. The characters are lonely, isolated, their conversations are brief and shallow. Through all their not-so-social encounters, it becomes evident that something is off, but it’s not clear what. It’s fair to say that the director does an excellent job of keeping the audience in suspense.
The first sign that not everything is okay can be noticed during the conversation about a name for the child. Yu asks her boyfriend: “So, do you like the name Guo Ran?”, to which he dispassionately replies that it is fine. This process is usually an exciting one for future parents, but in “Guo Ran” it’s the moment when the emotional distance between the two partners becomes obvious.
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Manxuan Li delivers a convincing performance as the withdrawn and sorrowful protagonist. In numerous scenes imbued with silence, understanding them relies largely on her subtle acting and conveying certain emotions. Although the film is full of melancholy and despair, and Yu is worried about the future most of the time, there is some space for happiness with the idea of becoming a mother. These glimpses of hope can be seen especially when she speaks with children.
Worth mentioning is the slow and static cinematography by Matthias Delvaux, whose work was awarded at the 65th Valladolid International Film Festival and the 17th Asian Film Awards, among others. A considerable part of the narrative takes place in confined interiors, which intensifies the claustrophobic atmosphere. Even the parts of the story that take place in outdoor locations cannot eliminate the feeling of confinement. The tense and reclusive tone is deepened by the lack of ambient sounds.
Although “Guo Ran” is only 90 minutes long, due to the dense atmosphere and patient approach to storytelling, it is heavy and might feel tedious for some viewers. Despite this, Dongmei proves that she is a perceptive analyst of modern society and proves that her cinematic exploration of contemporary relationships, mourning, and solitude is relevant. This can be confirmed with numerous research showing that many countries are facing an epidemic of loneliness.
