When a film is over 3 hours, it needs to do two things. Firstly it needs to justify its length of time. Secondly. it needs to look after the audience. At 186 minutes long (22 minutes longer than 2001: A Space Odyssey), So Long, My Son does pack in a lot of content.

The film starts with the major pivot. Xingxing and Haohao are two young best friends who were born on the same day. At a young age, Haohao suggests they play in the reservoir. Xingxing is nervous, and doesn’t really want to go. We fast forward and see that Xingxing has died from drowning here, but we’re not sure what events lead to this.

We then jump through time to see a lot of what’s going on. In the future we see that Xingxing’s parents have adopted a child who they’ve healthily also decided to call Xingxing. Needless to say, he’s not best pleased about the situation. We jump into the past with these families, seeing the economic and political turmoil seen in China from the 1980s onwards. We see the restrictive laws, the job insecurity and most tragically, China’s one child policy. The last hour or so explores Xingxing and Haohao’s families falling apart, having been close before the incident. The issues have been layered throughout and are clearly multi-faceted. The honest and intimate look are welcome.

In terms of looking after the audience, here’s where the confusion lies. A three hour long Chinese film which goes with see don’t tell. You aren’t told when you’re time jumping so have to almost put it together in your mind, alongside reading the subtitles. I do enjoy foreign films, so it’s not a complaint, but some form of time card throughout would have been ideal or more structure than the seemingly random back and forth.

The film is also very heavy. Any moment of light relief comes in the first 40 minutes. After this, you’re on your own looking into the void. Again, I’m down with sad films, but the tone is never one of hope and after three hours, you can’t help but feel exhausted.

Despite this, there are lots of positives. When you put the story together, it is well told, informative and emotional. The lead performers are great. Yong Mei is brilliant as the mother. Wang Yingchun steals the show as the father and together they have great chemistry. The see don’t tell effect of the political backdrop is well done and when it comes into the fray it’s done so tragically with long lasting effects. The characters are all dynamic and organic. Each one feels effected by what happened up to 40 years ago as the scars run deep and proper

Summary

So Long, My Son is a brilliantly put together piece which focuses on political and personal tragedy in China. However, it’s confusing arc and heavy material for such a long period doesn’t make it easy to watch. [Grade: B]