China began loosening its one-child policy in 2015 until finally, in 2021, it abolished all restrictions on the number of children a family could have. Young Chinese filmmakers are beginning to grapple with the fallout of those prior decades in new fiction films that demonstrate how the Chinese family unit has been irreversibly transformed. Writer and Director Lin Jianjie, making his feature debut, eases us into his inquiry by using genre conventions – namely the ‘outsider intruding a family’ framework, deployed in Pier Paolo Pasolini’s “Teorema” and Emerald Fennell’s “Saltburn.” He crafts a sleek & assured thriller that delivers on its own terms, even if you don’t care about its subtext.
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“Brief History Of A Family” centers on the Tu family, consisting of Mr. Tu (Zu Feng), a biologist, Mrs. Tu (Guo Keyu), a homemaker, and their 16-year-old son, Wei (Lin Muran). Wei inadvertently injures loner classmate Shuo (Sun Xilun) with a basketball and invites him over to play video games to make up for it. The Tu family lives in a well-appointed apartment and is noticeably affluent & westernized—Mr. Tu loves classical music, calligraphy, and tennis. They have enough disposable income to take expensive vacations. Mr. & Mrs. Tu, with unyielding politeness, are more than happy to host one of their son’s friends for lunch, dinner, and even a stay-over.
Herein, Lin sows the first seeds of conflict that threaten the family unit. Wei is a jock-like teen, more interested in sports (fencing) and video games, and out of favor with his parents’ more refined taste. The reserved, bookish Shuo, with his intelligence & tact, is more up their alley—the kind of child they could never have. “Brief History Of A Family” raises a canny question that Western audiences have never been in the position to contemplate: what if you are disappointed in your child and there is no possibility of having another one? Of course, all parents superficially love their progeny, but the mind does wonder sometimes.
The genre elements kick into high gear with Shuo’s gradual (non-sexual) seduction of Mr. and Mrs. Tu – as his curiosity is a vessel for them to express themselves as parents in ways they never could previously. Lin also weaves in some class dynamics as Shuo is clearly from a poorer family, living with his single father, who Shuo says drinks and beats him all the time. All these threads, with a multitude of recurring visual motifs, create an engrossing picture that keeps the audience in suspense—waiting for the other shoe to drop. And drop it does, in an oblique fashion, leaving plenty of room for audiences to contemplate the meaning of what they have just witnessed.
What is also remarkable is just how recognizable and familiar the Tu family will seem to most audiences even outside China. Controlling for cultural specificities, the dreams and desires, and conduct of the Tu family are not at all dissimilar to any upper-middle-class suburban, American family. Affluence, regardless of country, creates a remarkable homogeneity of human experience.
Lin is obviously talented and one to watch —as ably demonstrated by his aptitude for adding visual flourishes to this independent picture that sets it apart from other Sundance films. Mr. Tu is a biologist, and though we do not directly see his lab work, there are several cutaways to throbbing bacteria cells observed from under a microscope. The circular frame used for the bacteria is often deployed in other scenes and in one stunning moment created via set design. Speaking of which, the Tu home has several fish tanks to add a certain upscale flourish to their apartment. Several scenes are filmed with the camera inside the fish tank, with the fish crowding the foreground and the human characters only appearing in the background. Another striking moment uses the shadows of the fish wafting across a character’s face during a dramatic moment. Wei’s fencing matches are also occasions for iridescent, impressionistic imagery.
This is a rather accomplished debut feature, though certain markers of a first feature remain. There is ambition in the filmmaking, but some gestures can come across as a tad show-offy—attempts to elevate the film beyond the confines of its domestic thriller conception. Which is no foul, as excess of personality is preferable to point-and-shoot anonymity. The writing too sustains interest through, though the storyline seems a bit unpredicated— there isn’t necessarily any inciting motivation for what transpires – though perhaps that is part of the point and the intruder Shuo & the film retain their air of mystery throughout.
While bereft of the lurid pleasures that have propelled “Saltburn” to its ubiquitous social media popularity, “Brief History Of A Family” is nevertheless a smart and engaging debut feature, and preferable since it has something of value to communicate to audiences. [B/B+]
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