Long Day's Journey Into Night

Bi Gan's ‘destroyed film noir' is a dazzling dive into an immersive dreamscape.

A simple plot synopsis – a man returns to his hometown in search of the woman who got away – does little to prepare audiences for this experience. While there are certainly narrative threads and characters to follow, the pleasures of Long Day’s Journey into Night are to be found in relinquishing the storytelling and submitting to its immersive qualities. As our hero journeys through his quest, the film explores the elusive (and illusive) nature of memories, crescendoing in a 55-minute single take, shot entirely in 3D (but presented in 2D here).

Influenced by the paintings of Chagall and described by writer-director Bi Gan as a ‘destroyed film noir’, his follow-up to Kaili Blues is bold, stylish cinema that you’ll want to live inside.