Drawing a parallel between grim personal history and the dark secrets of a nation’s past, Wang Xiaoshuai’s Red Amnesia, the third part in the director’s Cultural Revolution trilogy, is a ghost story in the figurative (and perhaps also literal) sense, granting solid presence to the mysterious inhabitants of anxious dreams and haunting memories.
What begins as the tale of a blameless, good-natured widow plagued with harassing phone calls slowly unfurls into a sombre meditation on guilt, denial and the lingering repercussions of long buried sins.
Red Amnesia is streaming on FilmDoo
The wordless introductory minutes of Red Amnesia set the film’s quiet, pensive tone with its moody footage of dimly lit interiors mixed with ominous shots of empty streets and dilapidated buildings (though the location of these eerie exteriors will only become clear in the film’s final stretch).
The near-silent opening is interrupted by the...
What begins as the tale of a blameless, good-natured widow plagued with harassing phone calls slowly unfurls into a sombre meditation on guilt, denial and the lingering repercussions of long buried sins.
Red Amnesia is streaming on FilmDoo
The wordless introductory minutes of Red Amnesia set the film’s quiet, pensive tone with its moody footage of dimly lit interiors mixed with ominous shots of empty streets and dilapidated buildings (though the location of these eerie exteriors will only become clear in the film’s final stretch).
The near-silent opening is interrupted by the...
- 5/30/2017
- by David Pountain
- AsianMoviePulse
Red Amnesia
Directed by Wang Xiaoshuai
China, 2014
Wang Xiahshuai’s Red Amnesia seems to be the exception to the rule for a Mainland China film. It’s not an historical epic, a cuddly or action-packed animation, nor a Bridesmaids or The Hangover-styled comedy.
Deng (Zhong Lü) is retired widow who lives alone. She cares for her elderly mother, and sometimes unwantedly, for her two grown sons. When Deng starts receiving anonymous, silent phone calls, she fears for her own safety and that past events have come back to haunt her.
Part historical drama, part ghost story, part psychological thriller, Xiahshuai’s film is strongest when it’s simply about aging. Deng’s interaction with her own mother is heartbreaking, as are the conversations she has with her deceased husband. Red Amnesia is the rare film that doesn’t look to old age as something to be swept under the rug or to be feared,...
Directed by Wang Xiaoshuai
China, 2014
Wang Xiahshuai’s Red Amnesia seems to be the exception to the rule for a Mainland China film. It’s not an historical epic, a cuddly or action-packed animation, nor a Bridesmaids or The Hangover-styled comedy.
Deng (Zhong Lü) is retired widow who lives alone. She cares for her elderly mother, and sometimes unwantedly, for her two grown sons. When Deng starts receiving anonymous, silent phone calls, she fears for her own safety and that past events have come back to haunt her.
Part historical drama, part ghost story, part psychological thriller, Xiahshuai’s film is strongest when it’s simply about aging. Deng’s interaction with her own mother is heartbreaking, as are the conversations she has with her deceased husband. Red Amnesia is the rare film that doesn’t look to old age as something to be swept under the rug or to be feared,...
- 8/14/2015
- by Neal Dhand
- SoundOnSight
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