The Upcoming
  • Cinema & Tv
    • Movie reviews
    • Film festivals
      • Berlin
      • Tribeca
      • Sundance London
      • Cannes
      • Locarno
      • Venice
      • London
      • Toronto
    • Show reviews
  • Music
    • Live music
  • Food & Drinks
    • News & Features
    • Restaurant & bar reviews
    • Interviews & Recipes
  • Theatre
  • Art
  • Travel & Lifestyle
  • Literature
  • Fashion & Beauty
    • Accessories
    • Beauty
    • News & Features
    • Shopping & Trends
    • Tips & How-tos
    • Fashion weeks
      • London Fashion Week
      • London Fashion Week Men’s
      • New York Fashion Week
      • Milan Fashion Week
      • Paris Fashion Week
      • Haute Couture
  • Join us
    • Editorial unit
    • Our writers
    • Join the team
    • Join the mailing list
    • Support us
    • Contact us
  • Competitions
  • Facebook

  • Twitter

  • Instagram

  • YouTube

  • RSS

London Film Festival 2018

Suburban Birds (Jiao qu de niao)

London Film Festival 2018: Suburban Birds (Jiao qu de niao) | Review
5 October 2018
Guy Lambert
Avatar
Guy Lambert
5 October 2018
Public screenings
11th October 2018 6.30pm at Vue West End
12th October 2018 1.00pm at Prince Charles Cinema

Movie and show review

Guy Lambert

Suburban Birds (Jiao qu de niao)

★★★★★

Special event

A tale of two linking stories, Qiu Sheng’s Suburban Birds sees Mason Lee take up the role of Xiahao, a land surveyor who, along with two colleagues and the local Police Chief, sets about investigating a recent sink hole occurrence in which buildings are beginning to tilt and residents are forced to evacuate their homes. Stumbling upon an empty school, Xiahao finds a diary full of memories that transports the audience over to another plotline, following the activities of a younger boy, also named Xiahao (Zihan Gong).

As pre-adolescent children, Xiahao and his friends explore the forest in search of birds nests, attend school and envelop themselves in primary school romantics. Older Xiahao also involves himself in romance with the illuminating Swallow (Lu Huang), an evacuee living one hotel room down, but there is a substance of joy and purpose missing from his life, a reality he struggles to come to terms with. 

Suburban Birds focuses heavily on the contrasting attitudes of adults and children, displaying a clear representation of how we lose our childish inner freedom and innocent exploration as we mature into a world that hands us new burdens of our own that we alone must carry. The film is evidently a whole-hearted exploration, whether it be through Xu Ranjun’s experimental cinematography or Qui Sheng’s cross-timeline writing. The main question is, does it all work when edited together?

Initially, we presume that both older and younger Xiahao are the same person, with the former reflecting on memories of his childhood. This, however, is thrown into question when both characters’ paths cross each other with no subsequent aftermath. Both of them have their own external conflict, but the crux of these moments takes an excruciatingly long time to arrive. Without the support of a clear and structured narrative, the audience is left to make their own assumptions about the true meaning and purpose of the film, only to then be proved wrong and ultimately confused when the movie continues on from one juxtaposition to the next.

We can understand what is trying to be achieved in this style of writing but, when all the cards are laid down, it simply doesn’t work. Basically, Suburban Birds is a very slow burner, disorientating the viewer badly and filling time with lingering wide shots that contribute very little to the story. The disparity between childhood and adulthood seems to be the only major theme that can be extracted from this film, but even then, given the fluctuating nature of its narrative, that is also probably a completely wrong assumption as well.

★★★★★

Guy Lambert

Suburban Birds (Jiao qu de niao) does not have a UK release date yet.

Read more reviews and interviews from our London Film Festival 2018 coverage here.

For further information about the festival visit the official BFI website here.

Watch the trailer for Suburban Birds (Jiao qu de niao) here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPXTlvnE08A

Related ItemsLFFlondon film festivalreview

More in Film festivals

Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul.

★★★★★
Matthew McMillan
Read More

“I think I’m kind of a drug addict for image and sound coming together! I’m always putting images to sound and getting high”: An interview with Hlynur Pálmason, director of Godland

Selina Sondermann
Read More

Watcher

★★★★★
Matthew McMillan
Read More

Resurrection

★★★★★
Matthew McMillan
Read More

Sharp Stick

★★★★★
Matthew McMillan
Read More

Leyla’s Brothers: An interview with Saeed Roustayi

Selina Sondermann
Read More

Plan 75: An interview with director Chie Hayakawa

Selina Sondermann
Read More

Falcon Lake: An interview with director Charlotte Le Bon

Selina Sondermann
Read More

“How to make a genuine portrait of life”: An interview with the stars of Leila’s Brothers

Selina Sondermann
Read More
Scroll for more
Tap

Movie and show review

Guy Lambert

Suburban Birds (Jiao qu de niao)

★★★★★

Special event

  • Popular

  • Latest

  • TOP PICKS

  • Nope
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Ed Fringe 2022: Hungry
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Eiffel
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Royal Ballet School students return to the stage for post-Covid performances
    Theatre
  • Tips for creating a peaceful home
    Feature of the week
  • Kasabian – The Alchemist’s Euphoria
    ★★★★★
    Album review
  • Rita at Charing Cross Theatre
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Ed Fringe 2022: Hungry
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • “Even people who’ve been through adversity might say ‘Well, I wouldn’t change anything because I wouldn’t be who I am'”: Eva Noblezada and Flula Borg on Luck
    Cinema & Tv
  • “Film offers a way of looking at the past, the present and the future simultaneously. That’s its wonder”: Sarah Beddington on Fadia’s Tree
    Cinema & Tv
  • Kasabian – The Alchemist’s Euphoria
    ★★★★★
    Album review
  • Rita at Charing Cross Theatre
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • “Even people who’ve been through adversity might say ‘Well, I wouldn’t change anything because I wouldn’t be who I am'”: Eva Noblezada and Flula Borg on Luck
    Cinema & Tv
  • Nope
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Five Days at Memorial
    ★★★★★
    apple
The Upcoming
Pages
  • Contact us
  • Join mailing list
  • Join us
  • Our London food map
  • Our writers
  • Support us
  • What, when, why
With the support from:
International driving license

Copyright © 2011-2020 FL Media

London Film Festival 2018: Joy | Review
London Film Festival 2018: Assassination Nation | Review