17/08/2021 - Qiu Jiongjiong’s Special Jury Prize winner demands commitment, but rewards it with, among other things, a playful take on the afterlife. The good news is, they have soup

In his first fiction feature, 74th Locarno Film Festival Special Jury Prize winner A New Old Play [+see also:
trailer
film profile] – which, given how complex this work really is, feels rather extraordinary – Qiu Jiongjiong doesn’t limit himself in any shape or form, delivering a three-hour-long saga about the adventures and (mostly) misadventures of the Sichuan opera performers in 20th-century China. Stuck in-between their own personal struggles, ambitions and the country’s political turmoil, they still try to do the one thing they really do love, perform, even if it’s just to deflect the attention from some “stolen” maggots for a minute, until the famine strikes again, hard.

Apparently inspired by his own grandfather, also a Sichuan opera actor, Jiongjiong seems to have a lot of affection for this profession, which goes from prestigious to highly suspicious as the political circumstances change – its punishing schedule, strict rules, family-like gatherings and the joy of thrilling others with a honed skill. But it’s a melancholic tale, one he describes as a “pre-biography,” about something that is no more, starting with Qiu Fu (Yi Sicheng) heading to the Ghost City once his life as a leading clown-role actor has finally run its course. He remembers everything that happened since his start in The New-New Troupe, a group of people that turned out to be the only parent he ever knew – back when he was still just a tough little kid scraping for survival and, if lucky, a hot meal to go with it.

As the story stretches to accommodate 50-or-so years, there are mentions of other past disappointments, violent experiences and painful losses, and frankly, even just one of them would already make for a perfectly fine movie – with Guan Nan introducing a whole new perspective as Qui Fu’s wife, for example, herself very much a survivor. And yet Jiongjiong just keeps the stories coming, shared by both the living and the ghosts, apparently still very hungry in the afterlife too and certainly on the chatty side.

This richness makes the film a tad demanding, but even when wading through so many different voices, A New Old Play remains a pleasure, frequently humorous and always tender, living in a world of its own surrounded by the kind of easy-to-spot set design that doesn’t try to hide its theatrical roots for one minute. And if someone bemoans that running time once again, Jiongjiong seems to have an answer just for them, ripe and ready, delivered through his able performers:
- “Some critics have protested.”
- “Who cares about them?”
That’s the spirit.

A New Old Play was produced by Uluka Productions, co-produced by Midnight Blur Films and Hippocampe Productions. World sales are handled by Parallax Films.