X
  • 2016
  • Not Rated
  • Grasshopper Film
  • 1 h 53 m
  • 2016
  • Not Rated
  • Grasshopper Film
  • 1 h 53 m

Summary In a small clinic in the rain-drenched city of Kaili, two preoccupied doctors live ghost-like lives. One of them, Chen, decides to fulfill his dead mother’s wish and sets off on a train journey to look for his brother’s abandoned child. His partner in the clinic, a lonely old lady, asks Chen to find her old lover, and give him an old pho...

Directed By: Bi Gan

Written By: Bi Gan

  • 2016
  • Not Rated
  • Grasshopper Film
  • 1 h 53 m
  • 2016
  • Not Rated
  • Grasshopper Film
  • 1 h 53 m

Kaili Blues

Metascore Universal Acclaim Based on 10 Critic Reviews
85
User Score Generally Favorable Based on 13 User Ratings
7.4
My Score
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Where to Watch

Summary In a small clinic in the rain-drenched city of Kaili, two preoccupied doctors live ghost-like lives. One of them, Chen, decides to fulfill his dead mother’s wish and sets off on a train journey to look for his brother’s abandoned child. His partner in the clinic, a lonely old lady, asks Chen to find her old lover, and give him an old pho...

Directed By: Bi Gan

Written By: Bi Gan

Where to Watch

Top Cast

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Critic Reviews

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Metascore
Universal Acclaim Based on 10 Critic Reviews
85
100% Positive
10 Reviews
0% Mixed
0 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews

Critic Reviews

 View All
Metascore
Universal Acclaim Based on 10 Critic Reviews
85
100% Positive
10 Reviews
0% Mixed
0 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews
100
Aug 4, 2016
Bi’s singular vision bears comparison to those of other geniuses such as Tarkovsky, Sokurov, David Lynch, Luis Buñuel and Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Like those auteurs, he achieves what film is best at but seldom accomplishes — a stirring of a deeper consciousness, a glimpse into a reality transcending the everyday.
By Peter Keough FULL REVIEW
90
May 19, 2016
First-time writer-director Bi Gan and cinematographer Wang Tianxing infuse the imagery with a feeling at once otherworldly and familiar — the kind of thing you can't put a name to but would swear you've already experienced.
By Michael Nordine FULL REVIEW
90
May 17, 2016
Dreamy, poetry-filled and prone to veering off on tangents, the picture teases viewers with such self-assurance it's difficult to believe the twentysomething director is a first-timer.
By John DeFore FULL REVIEW
83
May 19, 2016
Bi is a poet as well as a filmmaker, and some of his verse is in the film. He treats almost every shot as an opportunity to further develop the movie’s plainspoken lyrical vocabulary, in which disco balls and side-view mirrors take on metaphorical significance and water stands in for time.
By Ignatiy Vishnevetsky FULL REVIEW
80
May 17, 2016
Led by performances imbued with barely concealed sorrow, regret and longing to come to terms with that which has been lost, Kaili Blues affords a view of people, and a nation, caught in between a haunting yesterday and — as implied by the film’s conclusion — a hopeful tomorrow.
By Nick Schager FULL REVIEW
75
May 17, 2016
Bi’s Kaili Blues is a bit too formless to hold together, even despite its immense merits and deep thematic resonance. Still: in one film, he’s already demonstrated himself to be an extraordinary visual stylist who’s not afraid to color outside the formalist lines.
By Michael Snydel FULL REVIEW
70
May 19, 2016
As lovely as the movie is to look at (and the final scene is exceptionally wonderful), it’s too oblique to concentrate its energies and sharpen its focus.
By Ken Jaworowski FULL REVIEW

User Reviews

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User Score
Generally Favorable Based on 13 User Ratings
7.4
77% Positive
10 Ratings
15% Mixed
2 Ratings
8% Negative
1 Rating

User Reviews

 View All
User Score
Generally Favorable Based on 13 User Ratings
7.4
77% Positive
10 Ratings
15% Mixed
2 Ratings
8% Negative
1 Rating

There are no user reviews yet. Be the first to add a review.

Details

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Production Company China Film (Shanghai) International Media Co., Beijing Herui FIlm Culture, Blackfin (Beijing) Culture & Media Co., Heaven Pictures (Beijing) The Movies Co.
Release Date May 20, 2016
Duration 1 h 53 m
Rating Not Rated
Genres
Website https://www.facebook.com/kailiblues
View All Details

Awards

Shanghai Film Critics Awards
• 3 Wins & 5 Nominations
Beijing Student Film Festival
• 1 Win & 4 Nominations
Locarno International Film Festival
• 2 Wins & 3 Nominations

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