Summer of Changsha [六欲天] (2019)

A murky investigation from first-time director (and lead actor) Zu Feng.

He Bin [Zu] and Li Lei [Chen Minghao] are detectives in Changsha. Bin is disillusioned and ill and about to retire. His last case begins with the discovery of a severed arm and leads to the sister of the missing man, Dr Li Xue [the reliably downbeat Huang Lu]. Xue, like Bin, has had a recent tragic experience in her personal life and is just as world-weary as he is.

Bin’s girlfriend committed suicide following depression and he blames himself for failing to stop her while Xue’s young daughter died (accidentally) in horrendous circumstances and she also blames herself (and is blamed by others) for the death.

Only nominally a detective story, the film is actually much more about an investigation into the personal lives of the main characters, whether it is possible to surmount such traumatic experiences and go on living and whether, in fact, the struggle is worth it.

One can see the influence of Lou Ye with whom Zu has worked as an actor (Mystery) but the film is also more like the previous work of Diao Yinan (Night Train, Black Coal, Thin Ice) than his most recent release (The Wild Goose Lake).

The two leads (Zu and Huang) are excellent. Huang Lu is (deservedly) much in demand and has appeared in numerous films in recent years including the Malaysian Victim(s) (shown at FEFF 22) and the Chinese detective film Bloody Daisy.

A number of internationally-feted films have done surprisingly well at the Chinese box office this year (including Long Day’s Journey into Night (number 45 in the 2019 box office) and Wild Goose Lake (61)). Unfortunately, although Summer was shown in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes it has not been very well-received either by international or home audiences (tiny box office and 5.8 on Douban).

Personally I think that it is a much better film than the flashy but shallow Long Day’s Journey or Wild Goose Lake.  Its also much better than a number of recent ‘interesting but flawed’ Chinese detective stories such as Bloody Daisy.  In contrast to those films, the emphasis is much more on character than on plot twists and the discovery of the murderer does not matter very much to the film.

Hopefully we may see further films from Director Zu.