Though we continue waiting for Bi Gan’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night follow-up—about which we know production begins this year, and about which that’s basically enough—here’s something to satiate. One of world cinema’s better recent discoveries has directed a 15-minute short The Broken Heart of the Sun, a short produced by the Chinese cat company pidan. Loosely described as “a fairy tale about love” and said to follow “the relationship between man and cat,” it suggests Bi’s style (however influenced by others) could hardly be suppressed: in clear sight are his interests in camera distance, production design, and emphasizing landscape. The return of his (I guess mainstay) star Chen Yongzhong doesn’t hurt.
Update: At the request of Bi Gan’s producers, we have removed the short. As we await the official release, with English subtitles, check out his previous short Secret Goldfish below.