Lu Zhang	...	(Director)
Lu Zhang	...	(Writer)
Bai Qing Xin	...	Gu Wentong
Yao Huang	...	Ouyang Wenhui
Zhuangzhuang Tian	...	Gu Yunlai
Gaowa Siqin	...	Nan Ji
Hongwei Wang	...	Li Jun
Qinqin Li	...	Gu Wenhui
Yiwen Wang	...	Xiao Xiao
Xiao He	...	Composer
Songri Piao	...	Cinematographer
Xinzhu Liu	...	Editor

Comments: I'd award this 5 stars but I'm afraid it would give the impression I understood more of it than I did

There's a scene where two protagonists are in an alleyway of sorts in the evening and meet a cat casting a shadow. The humans have no shadows. One of them asks: "Can I give you a hug?" after the other suggests: "Maybe our shadows got left in Beidaihe"

When the pair hugs, a shadow emerges

You had to be there, it’s a fist pumper, but let it be said that the scene might seem precious or silly if executed by a different director

I can hardly believe how confident this guy is in what he's doing

A couple is dancing. The camera pans and the guy is dancing alone (as if his partner is still in his arms)

The film is about many things I don't want to write about: family, time, memory, politeness, China, meaning, and etc. It's also about not much at all besides a few people getting through life

Like the shadow scene, sometimes the director seems to bash you in the face with its themes. I usually hate it when directors do that. I always love it when a director does something I usually hate and I don't hate it. Something's going on there with Zhang Lu

The other thing I love about this flick is there's no acting. Zhang Lu's greatest talent is ... capturing

Watching a Zhang Lu film which is face bashingly about China and the Chinese thing, with Chinese actors speaking Mandarin (and a little Cantonese) is different from watching his films with Korean actors

To call this slow and languid would give the impression it moves faster than it does. At nearly two and a half hours, time did not exist for me. The film is kind of boring with some sexual tension executed so masterfully I wanted to bash it in the face


Summary: Gu Wentong, a middle-aged food critic, is drifting through the local eateries of vibrant Beijing with his younger photographer colleague Oyang. A divorcé with a 6-year-old daughter and estranged from his father for decades, he is looking for a new perspective on life while reconsidering his failings as a father, a son, and a lover. While the seasons come and go, people get together and move apart. Only one thing will remain the same: The White Pagoda where they all meet sooner or later.