The Days (1993)

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

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)

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