Xue Yun (Absence)

2022’s Berlinale featured the Chinese film Return to Dust, approved and endorsed by the country’s government. Several months later, it was quietly withdrawn from release, allegedly because there was some official displeasure about the plot, which depicts rural life and traditional ways disappearing under the onslaught of urbanisation. The movie soon reemerged after being hastily edited, featuring the addition of a concluding voiceover that rendered much of its central conflict moot. Xue Yun, from director Wu Lang, is unlikely to suffer the same fate, despite sharing comparable themes. Lang’s film lacks the slightly accusatory nature of Return to Dust, but is still a nuanced story of a country and people in a state of flux.

Han Jiangyu (Lee Kang-Sheng) is quickly discovering that a person can’t go home again. Returning to the island of Hainan after a decade behind bars, he finds his former stomping ground to be unrecognisable, with housing developers seemingly claiming every free patch of land. Reconnecting with his former lover, Su Hong (Li Meng), whose daughter might be his, Jiangyu tries to adapt and rebuild himself.

Socially minded film festivals (of which the Berlinale is perhaps the most blunt) seemingly love to select films such as this – works that deal with potent issues in a deceptively sedate way. Lang’s screenplay runs the clever gamut of acknowledging the effect that rampant modernisation has had on some sectors of the population, without explicit criticism. The filmmaker has a keen eye for smaller moments too, with a slowed-down drive across a bridge being a highlight, and glimpses of rural animals in domestic settings taking on a dreamlike quality. The central thrust (and the mood created) is arguably too even-tempered for Xue Yun to really hit home, but it’s an encouraging piece from a promising new filmmaker. 

Oliver Johnston

Xue Yun (Absence) does not have a UK release date yet.

Read more reviews from our Berlin Film Festival 2023 coverage here.

For further information about the event visit the Berlin Film Festival website here.

Watch the trailer for Xue Yun (Absence) here: