re:mote voices

Title: All Tomorrows Parties
Cast: Yong Won-cho, Diao Yi-nan, Wei Wei Zhao
Director:Nelson Yu Lik-wai

All Tomorrow’s Parties is a post-apocalyptic sci-fi film set in continental Asia. The director Yu Lik Wai who was present at the showing explained how he had come across this very industrial, and decrepit city in the area between China and inner Mongolia that struck him as being the perfect setting for a low budget sci-fi film. From there he came up with All Tomorrow’s Parties, where the west has collapsed due to some catastrophe and war rages across Asia. In the formerly Chinese zone a cult group have taken over, combining politics and religion, putting resisters in re-education camps. Clearly this creates a certain perspective on the history of China and the notorious regimes of re-education and propaganda that held sway there for so long. In fact this film was made out-with the officially approved avenues of the Chinese film system, having to seek funding and support outside the country.

The film starts with two brothers, who have wandered off from their work farm only to be captured by militia. Their punishment is that they are sent to one of the main re-education camps, where live is hard and restricted. However they are not there long before we see the first signs that the regime is starting to crumble. One day all the guards/management of the camp all disappear, and while initially confused the inmates quickly realise this means that they are free to leave. One of the brothers has befriended a young woman and her son, and they travel to the nearest city, a barren and rough industrial scene, where they take over an abandoned flat and have to scrounge for supplies to survive. With this it becomes clear that even though they are now free it is still a post apocalyptic country, the regime haven’t entirely lost control, though there is an increasing presence of soldiers from the former Korean zone.

On the whole all tomorrow’s parties is grim and grey. The characters find everything to be a struggle, and even though there are moments of magic for them (like the first time they manage to get soap after getting free), they can only argue and fight and struggle to survive. The film is shot with digital techniques, which affect the colouration and grimy feel of the picture. Unfortunately, in this case, the tint was too green, the director felt, having been unable to provide a film print as yet, we watched a digital projection. However the news is that All Tomorrow’s Parties has been picked up for distribution, so a more balanced print of the film should be doing the rounds some time in the near future.