Chinese Cannes-winning filmmaker Qiu Yang delivers a visually striking and emotionally charged domestic drama in his Berlin-launched debut Some Rain Must Fall.
Cai (played by the incredible Yu Aier) is a 40-year-old housewife who has lost track of who she is and who she wants to be. Recently, she served her husband divorce papers, but they remain unsigned. Life becomes increasingly difficult for her when she accidentally injures an elderly woman during her daughter’s basketball match at school. This seemingly trivial event becomes a catalyst for a life spinning out of control. As she is weighed down by cracks within her family and faces real dangers after the incident, with mysterious teenagers repeatedly taunting and assailing her, Cai’s emotions intensify as she tries to navigate an unknown future.
Labeled as one of the most anticipated debuts at the Berlinale this year, Chinese director Qiu Yang, whose short films have garnered global acclaim, including the Short Film Palme d’Or in 2017 for A Gentle Night and the Leitz Cine Discovery Prize for short film for She Runs in Cannes Critics’ Week 2019, brings his first feature-length film to the Encounters competition as one of only two debut directors for fiction films in the section. The film, which is also in contention for the GWFF Best First Feature Award, is a remarkable character study filled with tremendous empathy and honesty. Yang’s striking visual style, elegantly staged in every frame by his frequent collaborator Constanze Schmitt, serves as a great example of how sharp and contextually rich cinematography can propel the narrative forward.
While most scenes in Some Rain Must Fall are muted and melancholic, Yang’s sensibilities toward his characters, who question the value of honor and integrity in everyday life, create a subtle yet poetic storyline with cinematic potential. The story may be small and slight in scale, but it touches on the reality of life and finds a lyrical quality that helps it transcend some difficulties when the narrative loses momentum. This thoughtful feature debut from Qiu Yang possesses a quiet power and is keenly observed. His ability to find visually arresting ways heralds the strength of his vision as a filmmaker, even when dealing with murky issues and emotional punches that slowly creep into the frame.
Some Rain Must Fall (Kong fang jian li de nv ren) is produced by Singapore’s Wild Grass Film, France’s Why Not Productions, New York-based Cinema Inutile, London-based Good Chaos, and China’s La Fonte, Aurua Yangshuo, and XS Media, with France’s Goodfellas handling the film’s distribution.
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