A day in the life, An Elephant Sitting Still uncovers the fateful cord that connects four disparate characters in the industrial no-man's land of Northern China: Wei Bu, a disaffected teenager simmering from abuse at home and at school; Huang Ling, Wei Bu's apathetic friend and classmate who's hiding a secret; Wang Jin, an elderly man whose family wants to ship him off to a nursing home; and Yu Cheng, a gangster mired in personal problems. As their individual worlds start to spiral out of control, the narrative slowly and intimately brings their emotionally and physically interconnected lives into focus. Novelist Hu Bo's astounding debut feature will always be haunted by the fact that it is also his swan song—Hu committed suicide at the age of 29 shortly after the film was finished—but he leaves a nuance and unwavering portrait of life in the 21st century.
Director Biography
The late filmmaker and novelist Hu Bo (1988-2017) accomplished several literary and cinematic triumphs during his short life. He published two novels, Huge Crack (17) and Bullfrog (17), and directed two short films, Distant Father (14) and Fleeing by Night (16).
Press
4-Stars "[M]elancholic and mesmerising" - The Guardian