It's a pleasure to look at the screen and to watch the artistry of the entire creative team. But there's a forbidding quality to the entire enterprise.
As the second half of the film essentially repeats the action, only years later, the film's pace becomes sluggish, and its impact rapidly deflates. The artful charm of Feng's stylistic choices also begin to feel limiting.
It's like an odd storybook you'd find in the attic and have trouble putting down - the more quixotic Lian's journey becomes, the more you want her to see it through to the bitter end.
The script by Liu Zhenyun becomes ponderous and redundant, kept on oxygen by its lead actress's complex performance as a child-woman with enigmatic wisdom.
