Bi Gan's Dream Factory

"In January, I travelled to the outskirts of Chongqing, passing by karaoke bars, a night market, and a Ferris wheel sprouting from the roof of a mall, before arriving at a large, nondescript exhibition center. Inside, I entered what appeared to be an opium parlor. Patrons lounged in a smoky daze; men wearing fedoras played mah-jongg. Two lovers embraced in a curtained room, while a white peacock roosted on a ledge."

"The building was being used as a set for "Resurrection," the new feature by the Chinese director Bi Gan. The crew had just begun shooting what would become the first of six acts that make up the film, which follows a creature called a Deliriant (played by the pop idol Jackson Yee) who travels through several periods of Chinese and cinematic history."

"Bi (pronounced "Bee") emerged from the director's tent, dressed in black fleece, a Gore-Tex cap, and tan Asics, a cigarette dangling from one hand. The shoot, originally planned for three months beginning in January, 2024, had so far dragged on for a year, partly owing to crew changes, conflicts with actors' schedules, and adjustments to the script, but also because of the size of the production, which had grown to a scale daunting for any art-house film,"

Filming for Resurrection took place on a sprawling exhibition-center set on Chongqing’s outskirts, crafted to resemble an opium parlor with detailed period trappings. The film follows a creature called a Deliriant, played by Jackson Yee, who moves through multiple periods of Chinese and cinematic history across six acts, each realized in a distinct cinematic style. One act features Shu Qi in a silent-film segment set at the end of the Qing Dynasty, with elaborate optical illusions and Escher-like stairwells. The production expanded into a yearlong shoot because of crew turnover, scheduling conflicts, script adjustments, and an unusually ambitious scale for art-house cinema.

Read at The New Yorker