Wo ruhua si yu de erzi

I found this movie very sensual. It feels to me like the feel of the cinematography drives the movie a just more than the plot.

I enjoyed the long shots that left us feeling out the characters' behaviors. There were times when what we were looking at had very little to do with the action onscreen, and it put me into the dreamish, sensory mindset the son seemed to have.

Other times, the camera was more focused on more traditional plot elements, and that felt more like the father and others seeing things as they're expected to be. When the two were put together, there'd be long shots focused on what we expect to see, but then they sit there, allowing the scenes to play out longer than we may expect, getting the information but feeling the atmosphere really going on in the moment, internal to the characters and external in the scene.

The final product feels like a truer understanding of what happened between a young man with his head floating around his world, his father with his feet firmly placed on the ground, and the people in their lives who care about and connect with both of them.

For the first 20 minutes, there is some banter between, apparently, two sons and a father around the dinner table. Then the scene stops. The next morning, the son does some strange movements (naked butt showing) in front of a closed curtain, then opens it then the scene ends. Then the dad whines at the some for looking like he does. Then a messenger comes and there is a long scene setting up a Chinese Chess board and some bets made about the outcome then the scene ends. Now we have 2 unidentified guys wrestling the son on a bed until he gets a nose bleed. The dad organizes shoes and walks away. Do you feel the tension yet? If so, you must have a very boring life. And the scene ends. Nothing interesting happens at all. Suddenly the 3 guys are naked. More naked butts. All butts look alike. Boring. The tension is building. We are waiting for the appearance of a plot point. ANY PLOT POINT! ANY PLOT!!!!!! Dad finds the three naked boys and... walks away. The most interesting thing is how they three guys fell asleep in those positions. I expect that will be the high point of the movie. (It was) Outside now and long, loving closeups of chins and jackets. The raw tension is astounding!!! Ooooohhhhh, one guy climbed into bed with another guy and... the scene ended again. HEY, DIRECTOR!?!?!?! Did you have a script when you began shooting??? This is too bad even for MST3K! Now more chiding from the father then they play chess. Half way through now and NO PLOT! Son teaches father to play chess. Oh, the emotion, the drama. Chess! Can you believe it? The... Nothingness of it all. And now we get ping pong. And the cameraman must have been blind. Prefers shots of backgrounds or hoodies and jackets than faces most of the time. Ears and backs of heads got some footage, too. An hour and 25 minutes in and we finally got a plot point and then 4 minutes later the movie is over. Wow, what a ride! I cried, I laughed. I ate supper. At least, I learned how to play chess so it was not a total waste.