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Kaili Blues

Play trailer Poster for Kaili Blues 2015 1h 53m Drama Mystery & Thriller Play Trailer Watchlist
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97% Tomatometer 32 Reviews 83% Popcornmeter 100+ Ratings
In the subtropical province of Guizhou, Chen Sheng embarks on a journey to find his nephew.

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Kaili Blues

Kaili Blues

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Critics Consensus

A visually arresting tone poem, Kaili Blues asks more questions than it answers, drawing the audience into a dreamlike viewing experience with its own melancholy allure.

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Critics Reviews

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Adam Nayman The Ringer Bi has a gift gift for bewitching enigmas and virtuoso technique, and he is poised to become one of the most important Chinese filmmakers of the new millennium. Apr 15, 2019 Full Review Alexandra Heller-Nicholas The Blue Lenses If there is one single factor that can somehow explain the pleasure afforded by Bi Gan's directorial debut Kaili Blues, it would be its undisguised, unflinching audacity. Aug 25, 2018 Full Review J. Hoberman The New York Review of Books The most elusive and the most memorable new movie that I've seen in quite some time. Mar 28, 2017 Full Review Diane Carson KDHX (St. Louis) With its meandering narrative, it takes some patience to engage with Chinese writer/director Bi Gan’s “Kaili Blues,” but the effort is immensely rewarded with unusual immersion in contemporary life in Guizhou province, southwest China. May 1, 2024 Full Review Scott Nye Battleship Pretension Like the forty-minute long take at its center, Kaili Blues has a story, but its detours and details are more immediately compelling. Jan 6, 2021 Full Review James Mudge easternKicks.com An outstanding effort from Bi Gan, and while perhaps not one for mainstream audiences, it's a wonderful piece of craftsmanship that's well-deserving of its reputation Rated: 4/5 Nov 1, 2020 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Audience Member A doctor travels the countryside, searching for his nephew that apperently is in a small Chinese city not too far away. Along the way he meets old friends and he get's a few new friends as well. This film is not about the plot, it's about the movement, the trip itself. The emotions created by the slowly panning shots, the mashing colors of mostly blue and green and all the things to observe. I feel a vibe of Taiwan, Thailand or something other than China, but it's sat in South China so that should explain it. It's like a mild Tarkovsky or more accuratly Apichatpong Weerasethakul at his best. The constantly moving filming tend to freeze at, or turn into a cut, of something that will catch you're eyes. Something interesting, more interesting than the pretty heavy digestable dialogues. The words rearly matter in this visual experience, though. After an hour or so in, things change. We get a 40 minutes uncut shot from a Canon 5D - probably attached to a helmet or something. It's a neat effect and it's another off-drift and a turn that makes it even more oberverable. Clever and impressively long! Gan Bi delivers a solid debut. I can't believe it's his first, is clearly a man to look out for. I don't know how this got off the radar, it should be on a lot of lists around the web not to mention places to be premiered around the world. A demanding but stunning film where time and happenings comes last. Not for everyone, and not a sure shot everyday. If you are in the mood for a meditative film that can take you away for a headtrip, consider this one. 8.5 out of 10 blue shoes. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/17/23 Full Review Audience Member 纪å (R)çå 1/2±å?ï 1/4è¶...ç°å (R)主ä¹çå?(TM)äº<é£æ  1/4å ä¸è'æ´å¤§å 1/4çè¯-æ­ä 1/2æ~ è¡¬ï 1/4è¿~åäºä 1/2è...å¿ä¸­çäºç­å¸¦é>¨æ-ç梦ã,é?线æ§å?(TM)äº<ä¸é¿é头çå>é æ§åº"ç"¨è (R) (C)梦å'ç°å (R)颠å'ï 1/4æ-¥å¸¸ç"活平淡中裹è-?ç?ç»è´ç纹路ï 1/4ä 1/2>æ(TM)è 1/2 (R)å>çæ?æ³å¨è¿(TM)éå?«è"å°æµ?é²ï 1/4é,£ç§?ç"活中ä¸?ä¸?ç»è...»çè?"ç³»æ?为äºèºæ¯çææ³ã,ä 1/2å"?å?(TM)äº<ç(TM)ç(TM) 1/2é¢å...·ä¸æ-¹å'éé?"éµå'³ï 1/4ç»è,çå¤ç?å'è§å?¬è¯­è¨çè¿?ç"¨å·§å¦(TM)严谨ï 1/4å 1/4å 3/4-å??å¤?å"?å'³ã,è¿(TM)æ~¯æ'æå-欢çä¸é¨ç"µå 1/2±ï 1/4没æä¹<ä¸ã,æ'ç±æ¯èµ£ï 1/4ç±ä»-çæ?çä¸ç¨å« (C)ï 1/4ä¸-ä¿-ä¸å¤ (C)çã,ä 1/2 æ~¯æ'èºæ¯ç"µå 1/2±çå?¯è'(TM)è...ï 1/4æ'ä 1/4带ç?è¿(TM)æ ·çç 3/4å¥ 1/2æ¿æ>å å...¥èºæ¯ç"µå 1/2±å>ä 1/2çé~µè?¥ã, Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/16/23 Full Review Audience Member Back in 1989, as newborn baby Gan Bi was breathing in peaceful sleep, all nine Muses gathered around him, touched their pointers on his rising chest and in an exhale, blessed him with a seed of an idea. The seed grew inside him. Alongside him. All around him. And it kept growing. And growing. Until it took over, in height, in stature, in demand. Gan, much like The Little Prince and his rose, thought it his duty and honour to take care of his friend, to love and nurture it to full bloom. And when that time came, when the idea had blossomed to perfect ripeness, Gan dared to immortalise its beauty using the most encompassing medium to its fullest. Colours, sound and echoing silence, shadows, poetry and violence, the rough and the velvety, time, love, devotion, laughter, hope and sorrow -- everything, all of it comes together like a Clotho-weaved veil of mystique, heavy with droplets of ambition that weigh it dangerously with ageless wrinkles without ever breaking its threads. Can you tell I'm still engulfed in this feature's ever-folding, dreamscape palpitations? In awe, this is the most human movie I have watched, possibly ever. I am caged. And here I want to stay. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/08/23 Full Review Audience Member Bi presents Kaili in all its naturalness, the sounds, the smell of the city, even the temperature of the air seems to become real, emanating out of the screen. This is a wonderful, melancholic piece. How people who the world would not even care to remember, live their lives and go on living, keeping their worries silently for themselves and enjoying the banal of the everyday. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/19/23 Full Review Audience Member Film language hasn`t been explored like this in a while. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/01/23 Full Review Audience Member deserve to be seen twice Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/26/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Kaili Blues

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Movie Info

Synopsis In the subtropical province of Guizhou, Chen Sheng embarks on a journey to find his nephew.
Director
Gan Bi
Producer
Zijian Wang
Screenwriter
Gan Bi
Genre
Drama, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language
Chinese
Release Date (Streaming)
Apr 10, 2017
Runtime
1h 53m
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