The Sun Also Rises

A polyptych of interconnected stories in different time-zones, shifting between a Yunnan village, a campus, and the Gobi Desert.

I've grown to really love Jiang Wen's work. His films are highly creative, tongue-in-cheek, political, and steeped in Chinese culture. The Sun Also Rises, a polyptych of related events, is a departure from his usual political commentary. It begins with complete craziness and takes off from there. Even when I got to the end of the film, I wasn't sure what I had exactly seen. I thought the meaning was just too obscure for me or anyone else. After sleeping on it, though, the entire piece came together for me. This unique addition to Jiang's catalog is an avant-garde, Beat Generation-style poetic recitation on love, loss, death, and life. It may be his best yet.