Light Pillar
In this deadpan Chinese animation set in the near future, a maintenance worker at a crumbling film studio searches for happiness with a cat by his side.
Zha, a janitor working on the grounds of a decaying film studio, struggles amongst run-down remnants and an endless winter. Wages are not paid even once a month, and the few remaining colleagues bully as much as time allows them to. Still, glistening on the horizon every night, as if a dream or a mirage, is the Light Pillar Space Travel Program. When the boss shoves virtual reality glasses into the hands of his subordinates, dreams quickly inch closer to their fruition. Will joy be found here or in another reality?
Taking place in the year 2033, the Chinese animated film Light Pillar depicts the struggle of scraping by every day and the pursuit of happiness. The story’s tone is simultaneously laconic and humorous yet cynical and warm. As signs deteriorate from the doorpost and inside it is nearly below freezing, small things can make one laugh. A stray cat-turned-roommate, the leader’s golden microphone and the clumsy carnival scenes filmed with real people keep the colour even in gloomy moments of greyness.
Xu Zao’s directorial debut unravels a story of persistent moments of light amidst a lifelessly dull, long and slushy season. You can’t help but leave the theatre smiling. Hope can always be found in something, even if from the discount section of the toy aisle or from the bottom of a suitcase.
Susanna Puomio (translated by Tara Tuchyner)
Screenings
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Kinopalatsi 5Sun 20.9. at 13.30–15.0090 min, 1/3
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WHS Teatteri UnionFri 25.9. at 21.00–22.3090 min, 2/3
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Kinopalatsi 7Sun 27.9. at 18.15–19.4590 min, 3/3