Underplayed Gems

The Days (1993)

The Days poster
Original title
冬春的日子
Directed by
Wang Xiaoshuai
Genre
independent film
Country
People's Republic of China
Runtime
1h 25m
Rating
6.7 of 10 from 7 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

More films like this

How it feels

Two young artists who are married struggle to make a living from their work. As they focus on their careers, their relationship starts to fall apart without them realizing it.

slow-burnmelancholicintimatebleakunderstatedreflectivequietaustere

What happens

The Days (Chinese: 冬春的日子; pinyin: Dōng chūn de rìzi; lit. 'Winter and Spring Days') is filmmaker Wang Xiaoshuai's 1993 directorial debut. Filmed in black-and-white, The Days follows the life of Dong (played by actor and artist Liu Xiaodong), and Chun (Yu Hong), married artists who have recently graduated from the Beijing Art Institute. Living meagerly in the hope of making enough money off their works, it soon becomes obvious to everyone but themselves that the marriage has begun to die. Wang's first film on his own after graduating from the Beijing Film Academy in 1989, The Days was shot on a meager budget of less than $10,000 (U.S.), with filming on the weekends with Wang's friends playing the lead roles. Made outside of the state film system, The Days was blacklisted upon its release by the Chinese Film Bureau. On the international front, however, the film was seen in a different light. Riding the high that Chinese cinema was enjoying abroad at the time (notably by older directors such as Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige), Wang Xiaoshuai's small independent film was an early indication that a new movement was beginning to supplant the old one. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

More like this

This page is from Underplayed Gems. Not quite it? You can browse by genre, country and year, or take this one into the 3D catalogue and ask the Catbot for something closer.