100 Sandoval St, Santa Fe, NM 87501
Friday April 26th, 6:30 – 8:30 PM
Till Love Do Us Part
30 year-old college lecturer Shu falls madly in love with a theater director Fan in Prague, during a work trip to Europe. However she has a fiancé Hu to marry, and a decent middle-class life in China to pursue.
Ran Li, screenwriter, director. Graduated from Tsinghua University school of law and Prague Film School. Her short films has been selected to over 60 international film festivals and won over 20 awards, including SXSW, Shanghai International Film Festival, Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival amongst others.
Director:
Ran Li
Writer:
Ran Li
Producer:
Ran Li, Michal Sikora
Talent:
Cuishan Liang, Ninghao Zhang, Bin Ren
Year Released:
2023
Country:
U.S.A.
Length:
01:50:49
Reviews:
Mr. Chu Chiu -Fan: I wanted to avoid any type of ‘career’ back then. Fear of anything long term.
This fear made it impossible for me to calm down and do things. I couldn’t feel happy
no matter what I achieved. It’s like many ants crawling all over my chest.Ms. Shu Qiao: So you were scared that life stayed the same, no more changes, right?
Fan: Exactly, you can say that. Why do you want to be a teacher?
Shu: I enjoy the feeling of helping people. Changing other people’s lives with my effort is a magical thing.
This one scene clarifies a lot in terms of identifying who Fan is and who Shu is and how they see themselves and their interaction/impact with others. Shu affects change thru her teaching on urban development and is the facilitator of the change. Fan, as a theater director, is a free spirit artist who says that in the past he wanted nothing long term and rebelled against routine and desired constant change to be happy.
So if one party needs change (Fan) and the other party facilitates change (Shu), can they possibly have a functional balanced friendship or more?
In an interesting scene speaking of urban development: “There’s a famous theory that if everything is planned, the planning is nothing. We usually use 20 years as a span to do urban planning. The development of the future 20 years has been planned thoroughly. But each year’s planning has failed to predict the development for the future 10 years or even 3-5 years. Why? Because the longer the planning is, the more uncertainty it faces from the outer environment.
So, urban planning must study uncertainty”.Shu has a steady beau named Hu, He’s a successful businessman type.
Shu meets Fan at a bookstore in Prague during her trip to conduct urban planning research in Europe.
Does Shu end up with either of these gentleman? Is there a happily ever after for her? Who changes the most, Shu, Fan or Hu?Writer/director Ms. Ran Li tells a powerful story with a great cast of characters, about tradition and family and culture expectations that feels like pressure and conforming versus the need to be an individual and
and as a young person, to explore and test those proven successful society norms for yourself to find out who you really are and how and where you can fit in and be the best version of yourself, where you are today.This movie is Ran Li’s debut feature. Everything works beautifully in this movie; it all comes together. Nothing is missing or misplaced. There are stunning silhouette shots and shots that play with both shadows and light; the pacing is excellent, it holds your interest and pushes the story forward;
lots of excellent character arcs that are obviously and interestingly either stagnant, positive or negative, and a compelling and full cast of strong supporting characters that engage, connect and perhaps alter the lead actors’ storyline. It’s a full picture.Cuishan Liang plays Shu.
Ninghao Zhang plays Fan.
Bin Ren plays Hu.All three lead actors were perfectly cast and are convincing in their roles. They’re easy to watch and play off each other well. You believe who they are and you believe their relationships.
Don’t be surprised if you find yourself rooting for one character then change to another and then maybe change back. Perhaps that’s how feelings move and fluctuate with wanting a happy ending in movies and in life.
