How Bi Gan pulled off the most artistically impressive cinematic spectacle of the year

The long take, the unbroken take, the “one” – whatever you want to call it, filmmakers agree it is one of the most difficult technical feats in cinema. It’s a feat of creativity, but also great coordination and choreography when one small mistake can ruin a shot.

Some famous examples: Martin Scorsese’s casino scene GoodFellas; And, more recently, the action sequences in an Alfonso Cuaron film Sons of men And Kian Alejandro Gonzalez Erieto Birdman. Until the last episode of studio The film, titled “The One” – which depicts the difficulty of shooting a continuous long take – was presented as a single film. Seth Rogen’s character describes it as “the ultimate cinematic achievement; the perfect marriage of art and technology.” (He then checks the names of the three films you just shot, perhaps a sign that a continuous single shot is something only a certain type of film is interested in.)

However, none of these examples can compare to the work of Chinese director Pei Gan, responsible for the year’s most ambitious and impressive feature film. His new science fiction film Resurrection — a labyrinthine expedition through 20th-century China — culminates in an extraordinary 30-minute tracking shot, one that was actually done as a single take. (For comparison, the longest clip is in Sam Mendes’ war film 1917 The film is nine minutes long, and each section is stitched together to make the film feel juxtaposed.) Taking the viewer from night to dawn, the first film follows its characters from a violent gang fight on the docks through rainy alleyways to a raucous karaoke bar before returning to the port, where the romance between two leads takes an unexpectedly brutal turn at sea. The effect is dazzling, destabilizing, and unlike anything else you’ll see on screen this year.

What you have achieved with me Resurrection It is an extraordinary artistic achievement, but it is also familiar territory for him. His first feature To be unclear It culminated in a 41-minute trek up, down and through the rural mountain town of Dangmai; His last film, The long day’s journey into nightended with a dream-like 59-minute continuous 3D shot.

Although he spoke through a Mandarin translator, Pei, only 36 years old, was very talkative and perhaps a bit shifty. The long take may be a massive effort of collaboration and coordination between cinematographers, set designers and a host of extras, but for Bi, it’s kind of its own thing. He’s gotten good at it. He said Edge How to pull it?

This interview has been edited and condensed.

The Verge: You’re strongly attached to the long flight. What is the effect of a long shot on the viewer?

B Gann: For me, I really think about long takes and their effect on the audience. By using long shots, the audience will understand time better. Because of the fact that when you’re watching this for so long and because of the setting of the scene, it might actually force you to stop thinking about using that kind of quick cuts or fragmented way of telling the story. Now, you’re experiencing the time in real time, along with your camera.

And when there’s one shot, do you want viewers to notice that it’s one long take?

It doesn’t really matter whether they notice it’s taking too long or not, but I think most of the audience will. They know that this point of view moves with you one way or another. What is most important for them is to understand time, in some way without interruption due to the long duration. But also that time is compressed in such a way that you experience it as it develops.

You can also manipulate time in the long shot in this film when you use the time-lapse technique. Were you trying to distort the experience of time?

In my first film, To be unclearyou have three different tenses in that particular long shot: something is happening in the past, in the present, in the future, but it’s all contained in that long shot. While I was going to my second movie, The long day’s journey into nightI really wanted to use this long shot in a compact way to talk about memories. This is also done in 3D technology. This highlights something very unique about memories, and how some things are very fragmented. But because the long take is used, it becomes more comprehensive and tangible than our actual fragmented memories.

Move to ResurrectionI think that’s the best way to depict that particular day, which is the last day of the 20th century, and moving into the 21st century, where two characters escape and then become vampires. One long way to that is that this is the best way to tell that particular story.

Did you know that you wanted one of the film’s vignettes to be long when you were writing the script, or did you discover that later?

This particular chapter came in first place because it’s actually adapted from one of my novels with the title UFOIt revolves around the escape of two lovers. I think when you translate from a written novel to a film, you need to find the best cinematic language for it.

At first, I was still trying to figure out the best way to make those words come alive in a visual way. It wasn’t until during the filming process that I had a discussion with (director of photography) Dong Jingsong and with (production designer) Liu Qiang that we asked, How will we do this?

Dong showed me this particular painting by Mark Rothko, an abstract painting in red, with a few other colors. Somehow, this particular combination of colors inspired me to start thinking about using a long, unbroken clip as a way to tell a story.

We really take this kind of film language in a very careful way. We didn’t want to do it carelessly.

Do you worry that whenever someone sees one of your films in the future, they’ll expect a long take?

That’s okay, because, you know, I’m not bound by any rules. You can tell that from the films I make.

This film is in conversation with a lot of film history. Long term, are there other directors who have done this that you have influenced?

In terms of that idea, this is very much a movie about movies, it’s just on the surface. This is how I introduce the topic of what happened in the twentieth century in China.

In terms of the influence of other filmmakers or other films that revolve around long takes, I don’t really think I was very familiar with them. For me, starting with To be unclearThe reason I chose to use a long shot was largely on a philosophical level. That was the best way to present what I wanted to express in a philosophical way in this particular film. As a general rule, I tend to try to subvert a lot of preconceived ideas or notions about films. So I don’t really see myself appreciating, influenced or affected by the feature films that other filmmakers make.

When you start planning a long shot and block it, what does that look like? How do you do it?

In terms of the text itself, it’s very much based on movement because that’s the only way you can achieve it. One of our biggest challenges is finding the right location and space for this story to happen. This is the beginning. I was discussing with the art directors how to explore which space would be the best place to tell this type of story. We were lucky enough with the team of managers and assistant managers that they looked around and finally found this particular perfect location with the railway lines, docks, ports, and then the karaoke bar and hospital.

Then there is continuous interaction and cooperation between the teams that focus on texts, then the teams that focus on groups, then the teams that focus on technical exercises. They must constantly work together and evolve in a way to finally achieve this and make it a reality.

The DP and cinematographer involve the art directors and how we somehow have to work closely and make a lot of edits. If during technical exercises you notice a certain type of technical difficulty that needs to be overcome, we discuss the possibility of changing or modifying the scenario. And then we do another technical exercise, and then, finally, we figure out that this is the best way to bring everything together.

And then we’ll bring in the actors and do it actual Exercises.

How long is the rehearsal?

From the moment the art directors found the space for actual rehearsals, it took a month.

We could only practice at night, and then during the day, the actors and actresses would do some other practices, like learning to operate a boat and how to sing karaoke.

Are they actually driving the boat?

We also have a lot of extras included in this extended period. So, as a director, I’ll give them some context — that this is the last night of 1999, and so they’ll be working in certain places, like barber shops or karaoke bars. And based on that, I’ll ask them to really develop the character themselves to think, “Who are you at this moment in time, in this place, and how can you fill the role as an addition to this specific shot?”

in ResurrectionIs it all taken from one piece or sewn together?

In terms of sewing it together, as long as you feel It’s a one shot, which is good. There is nothing wrong with that. But in my case, for this particular shot, it’s actually one continuous shot.

I’ve been looking for layers but haven’t found anything.

How many times did you have to film it?

Only three? This is impressive.

Resurrection In select theaters now.