Winner of the French Touch Prize in the Critics’ Week section at last year’s Cannes Film Festival, New York-based American filmmaker Constance Tsang‘s directorial debut Blue Sun Palace really struck a cord with us for how it details a sort of communal isolation within the working-class of NYC’s Chinatown – but this is freshly conceived atypical portrait. While it looks at the an insular existence where a bit of companionship and human warmth breaks the monotony of endless shift work and simply existing, Tsang’s immigrant’s tale seamlessly breaks with traditional portraits — it’s not misery anything and it’ll surprise viewers for its tone and narrative creativity – more focused on mood than plot.
In the exclusive clip for Blue Sun Palace below, we find Didi (Haixpeng Xu) dining with Taiwanese actor Lee Kang-sheng — best known for Tsai Ming-liang’s films (among our faves is Goodbye Dragon Inn) and who has been collaborating with new voices such as Yeo Siew Hua for Stranger Eyes. At first glance, this dinner sequence appears unremarkable. Its really about the need for connection between two souls who understand where they are in their timelines and the overwhelming weight of having overseas family dependent on you. Yet as the film unfolds, this sequence’s importance will come full circle and further underlines the notion of comfort when actively griefing.
The Dekanalog folks open Blue Sun Palace on Friday, April 25th at the Metrograph – New York, NY, LA theater (Laemmle Glendale) plus other markets (find list here).
