The 34th edition of International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam opened with the World Premiere of Four Journeys, a remarkably bold quest to explore a traumatic past, using lightness to reveal heavy subjects, and paying tribute to the resilience of the ones who went through the hardest times, by Louis Hothothot.
This time of the festival season has come, when the documentary film world meets in Amsterdam, in The Netherlands, to celebrate the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA), holding this year its 34th edition in person, from November 17th to 28th. Film Fest Report is delighted to attend the event among the press corps. To kick off the festival, we sat down at Amsterdam’s Koninklijk Theater Carré to enjoy the Opening Night of the 2021 IDFA, where we attended the World Premiere of Chinese artist Louis Hothothot’s (also known as Louis Yi Liu) debut feature Four Journeys.
First and foremost, “Four Journeys” is a deeply personal film in which director Louis Hothothot – whom we had the pleasure of interviewing – examines the destructive effects of China’s One Child Policy on his own family, after he was born as an “illegal” second child in 1986.
Told and embodied as a first-person investigation or quest, the film follows the director, now based in Amsterdam, as he returns to his family in Beijing to explore a complex, traumatic, and intentionally or unintentionally hidden past.
Instead of narrating his family’s story chronologically, director Louis Hothothot ingeniously roots his tale in the present time, illustrating how daily life scenes with his parents and sister evoke memories from their shared past. Simple stimuli like noise, a picture, or his father’s watch trigger recollections from his childhood. Memories from Mao’s era resurface, along with the attached trauma. This approach allows the director to convey the severe consequences his family endured for having a “black kid,” an “illegal” second child. Testimonies are gut-wrenching and deeply moving, revealing the multifaceted impacts of the One Child Policy on his family, from financial penalties to disruptions in family dynamics. Louis Hothothot’s narration is delicate, intimate, and powerful. Additionally, by grounding the story in the present, he infuses a light, comedic tone by gently teasing his now elderly parents. The apparent lightness and harmony of today starkly contrast with the heaviness of the trauma unearthed by Louis’ exploration of the family’s past. By alternating between painful memories and lighthearted present-day situations, the film honors the resilience of its characters.
At the core of the director’s journey into his family’s past is his own courage and honesty in confronting his parents about the darkest aspects of their history, turning the film into a therapeutic journey for the family. Louis skillfully poses important and painful questions to his parents and sister, encouraging them to acknowledge and confront the trauma, guilt, resentment, and ruins of the past that shaped who they are today.
Later, the film shifts its focus, moving away from the direct and indirect aftermath of the One Child Policy to explore the director’s parents’ opinions on his relationship with a French partner who is unwilling to have children. This segment highlights a clash of cultures between Chinese parents, steadfast in their traditional view of family, and their son’s girlfriend’s family, who exhibit greater flexibility on the matter.
Beyond our interest in the playful mise en scène, casual tone, and the filmmaker’s life, this narrative arc gains deeper significance when viewed through a specific lens. We witness the perpetuation of a cycle of suffering, with the director’s parents, having endured the pain of Mao’s One Child Policy, imposing their vision of family on their own children, despite their own struggles.
This theme resonates in the film’s final sequences, where we see the extent of the frustrations among the different generations of the family.
Overall, “Four Journeys” is a remarkably bold exploration of a traumatic past, using levity to tackle weighty subjects and honoring the resilience of those who endured the hardest times.
