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The Vanishing Spring Light

Category |Human Interest, Personal Story
Year | 2011
Country | China/Canada
Running time | 112’
Format |
Production | EyeSteelFilm
Director | Xun Yu


In a town set to vanish with redevelopment, a grandmother has a pleasant chat sitting in an alley as she often does, but she suffers a stroke and loses what little freedom she had. Conflict between her children deepens at her bedside, prompting reflection on her past in a startling portrait of honesty in the face of death.

The first film of four-part project, The Vanishing Spring Light records a formerly splendid city on the verge of disappearing forever. Rather than just the city, this film records the final days of the grandmother, who is in the same fate with the city.

The more palsied her body becomes, the more her memories are brought back, and more clearly. She confesses her memories, which are about toil and moil for the sake of her five children and she sorts through her lives for the camera. Facing the death of grandmother, the children’s conflict is frankly revealed.

As a communion between a director standing behind the camera and the grandmother gets closer, this film transforms into a stunning human drama.

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