Accidental Luxuriance of the Translucent Watery Rebus
Hybrid noir showing in moving collages the hunt for a man who could be anyone. Cigarettes burn. Ash falls. ‘Silence fiction’.
80'
Croatia
IFFR 2021
Being a classic hired killer is no longer an option, but eighty-something Chau doesn’t mind lending a helping hand in cases of euthanasia. Like a guardian angel (how he refers to himself), his ‘care service’ consists of slitting elderly throats. And there’s no shortage of lonely old-timers dying to take him up on the offer. In the darkly humorous Time, however, Chau doesn’t get long to enjoy his newfound success. Teenager Tsz-Ying also wants to be murdered, and won’t take no for an answer. The same is true of Chau’s client elderly Mrs Fung, who is struggling to make sense of life and the heavy demands of her children. In the meantime, driver Chung is trying in vain to find love with a sex worker.
Full of clever twists and hyper-stylised nods to classic Hong Kong cinema, Time is above all a warm film about vulnerable people and their lost ideals – although the lead actor, former matinee idol Patrick Tse (84), still rules the screen. A comical story with a sad undertow.
IFFR 2021
Programme IFFR 2021
Echoing Rotterdam’s port city identity, IFFR’s newest programme offers a safe haven to the full range of contemporary cinema that the festival champions.
Still: El ventre del mar
Read more about this programmeHybrid noir showing in moving collages the hunt for a man who could be anyone. Cigarettes burn. Ash falls. ‘Silence fiction’.
80'
Croatia
IFFR 2021
These intimate, at times almost magical, portraits of soulmates prove that love comes in all shapes and sizes.
102'
Portugal
IFFR 2021
In 2024, 88-year-old Suzanne uses deep-fake technology to recreate her deceased husband Edouard, but is he still the same?
67'
France
IFFR 2021