Italian Premiere | In Competition | White Mulberry Award Candidate
China, 2024, 110’, Mandarin
Directed by: Dong Zijian
Screenplay: Dong Zijian, Zhang Weizhong
Novel: Shang Xuetao
Cinematography (color): Lu Songye
Editing: Chang Sukping
Production Design: Liu Qiang
Music: Hank Lee
Producer: Wan Juan
Production Companies: Huace Pictures, Nineteen Pictures
Cast: Liu Haoran (Li Mo), Dong Zijian (An Delie), Chi Xingkai (giovane Li Mo), Han Haolin (giovane An Delie), Yin Tao, Dong Baoshi
Date of First Release in Territory: TBA
Dong Zijian is a veteran of the big screen despite his tender age – with roles in films such as
Mountains May Depart (2016) and
Ash is Purest White (2018) by Jia Zhangke,
Young Style (2013) by Liu Jie, and
Young Love Lost (2015) by Xiang Guoqiang, which he brought to the FEFF 2016. Now he makes his directorial debut with a film that already reveals considerable artistic maturity and refined aesthetics.
My Friend An Delie tackles universal, profound themes such as grief, memory and forgiveness, portraying the tale of two former schoolmates who accidentally run into each other as adults, based on the eponymous novel by Shang Xuetao.
Li Mo, a young professional photographer, is flying to Shenyang to attend his father’s funeral, and on the plane he crosses paths with his old friend An Delie, who he hasn’t seen since elementary school. However, An Delie doesn’t recognise him, even though he tells him that he is on his way to the funeral of his old friend Li Mo’s father…
When a snowstorm forces the plane to make an emergency landing, the two decide to rent a car in an attempt to reach Shenyang in time for the funeral, despite Li Mo’s discomfort as he struggles to understand why An Delie is pretending not to recognise him.
The two young men make an epic journey through desolate winter landscapes but also through time, and painful memories and unresolved traumas surface. The plot alternates between scenes in the present and flashbacks that bring Li Mo back to his childhood and the complicated friendship with An Delie, a rebellious, stubborn, yet extremely sensitive and brilliant boy. An Delie admired Li Mo’s football skills. The two were very different: Li Mo, a shy and seemingly docile child, but one who hated his violent father, who was accused of forcing his mother to abandon the family, and An Delie, a boy who feared neither the school authorities, who he criticised for their abuse of power, nor his father, who regularly beat him. Their friendship was close, but after a tragic accident that devastated Li Mo, An Delie disappeared from his life.
Over time, Li Mo left his father and moved to southern China, where, although he led an apparently successful life, he remained emotionally blocked, struggling to face up to his reality – that he was married and expecting a child.
The narrative unfolds like an on-the-road psychoanalytical therapy session, where conversations with An Delie, the friend Li Mo had buried in the recesses of his memory, force him to confront repressed memories and overcome his past. “If you take things too much to heart, they’ll consume you,” An Delie tells him, urging him to forget: “Forgetting is good. Forget everything.” But the more the past is revealed, the more the present becomes blurred and ambiguous…
The film’s cinematography, by Lu Songye – known for his work on the stunning Tibetan films made with the dearly departed Pema Tseden – is particularly captivating, with shots that frame the conversations between the two friends with perfect symmetry. The soundtrack, equally striking, introduces harsh and evocative sounds from the very first scenes, evoking a strong sense of psychological discomfort. The main stars are Liu Haoran, currently at his career peak, starring in demanding films such as
Decoded and
Chinatown 1900, and Dong Zijian himself, who not only wrote and directed the film but also performed in it with his usual intensity and strength.
GUEST:
DONG Zijian, director and actor
HUANG Yeqi, producer
Dong Zijian
An actor and director, Dong Zijian (b. 1993) studied at the Central Academy of Drama. He made his acting debut in 2013 in Liu Jie’s Young Style and continued his career in both film and television, working with prominent directors including Jia Zhangke. FEFF 2016 saw him in the lead role in Xiang Guoqiang’s Young Love Lost. With his many years of experience in the film and television industry, Dong Zijian has developed his own vision of auteur cinema. After his directorial debut with An Delie, which has already picked up numerous awards at international film festivals and received widespread critical acclaim, Dong Zijian is preparing his next film.
FILMOGRAPHY
2024 – My Friend An Delie