Long Day's Journey Into Night

Long Day's Journey Into Night has been declared a masterpiece before most audiences have had a chance to see it, but that does disservice to Bi Gan's risk-taking in what's only his second feature, where oblique dialogue is secondary to slowly unfolding set pieces reverberating and overlapping time and desire. Not all of his choices work, and at heart it's a mildly mawkish love story, but his boldness in telling is fascinating. The "masterpiece" label should be saved for whichever future work tempers tweeness and retains the audacity.
Returning to Kaili after 12 years for his father's funeral kicks off Luo Hongwu's Proustian, bisected tale of regret and longing as he searches for Wan Qiwen, the woman he's been unable to forget. The first half is ellipsed noir staged in supersaturated greens and reds. Relationships are stated but unclear. Is this their younger selves? A mother and son? Sprawling parallel possibilities? Longing is palpable but characters remain distant – in just one dense shot a snake strikes repeatedly at its glass cage as Luo stands near a window, a reflection reflected in a reflection of a train in the background that may not even be there.
Elegant silhouetted compositions give way to a single hour-long 3D shot; not gimmickry but a way to simultaneously put viewers in the film within the film while forcing an awareness that they're still watching one. Time stretches as characters move towards their desires, with several obvious plants – including spinning rooms and apples eaten whole – coming to bear, but ultimately, a moment of bliss holds its own brief eternity.
This review comes from our round-up of the 56th New York Film Festival, which so far covers fourteen (and counting) titles from the festival Main Slate. Real the full coverage here.
It initially appeared among our collection of takes from the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), which you can catch up with here.
Past Screenings
Tue Oct 2 18
Film at Lincoln CenterThu Oct 4 18
Film at Lincoln CenterFri Apr 12 19
MetrographFri Apr 12 19
Film at Lincoln CenterSat Apr 13 19
MetrographSat Apr 13 19
Film at Lincoln CenterSun Apr 14 19
MetrographSun Apr 14 19
Film at Lincoln CenterMon Apr 15 19
Film at Lincoln CenterTue Apr 16 19
MetrographTue Apr 16 19
Film at Lincoln CenterWed Apr 17 19
Film at Lincoln CenterThu Apr 18 19
MetrographThu Apr 18 19
Film at Lincoln CenterFri Apr 19 19
MetrographFri Apr 19 19
Film at Lincoln CenterSat Apr 20 19
MetrographSat Apr 20 19
Film at Lincoln CenterSun Apr 21 19
MetrographSun Apr 21 19
Film at Lincoln CenterMon Apr 22 19
MetrographMon Apr 22 19
Film at Lincoln CenterTue Apr 23 19
MetrographTue Apr 23 19
Film at Lincoln CenterWed Apr 24 19
MetrographWed Apr 24 19
Film at Lincoln CenterThu Apr 25 19
MetrographThu Apr 25 19
Film at Lincoln CenterFri Apr 26 19
MetrographFri Apr 26 19
Film at Lincoln CenterSat Apr 27 19
MetrographSat Apr 27 19
Film at Lincoln CenterSun Apr 28 19
MetrographSun Apr 28 19
Film at Lincoln CenterMon Apr 29 19
MetrographMon Apr 29 19
Film at Lincoln CenterTue Apr 30 19
Film at Lincoln CenterWed May 1 19
MetrographWed May 1 19
Film at Lincoln CenterThu May 2 19
Film at Lincoln CenterFri May 3 19
MetrographFri May 3 19
Film at Lincoln CenterSat May 4 19
Film at Lincoln CenterSun May 5 19
MetrographSun May 5 19
Film at Lincoln CenterMon May 6 19
MetrographMon May 6 19
Film at Lincoln CenterTue May 7 19
Film at Lincoln CenterWed May 8 19
MetrographWed May 8 19
Film at Lincoln CenterThu May 9 19
MetrographThu May 9 19
Film at Lincoln CenterFri May 10 19
Film at Lincoln CenterSat May 11 19
Film at Lincoln CenterSun May 12 19
Film at Lincoln CenterMon May 13 19
MetrographMon May 13 19
Film at Lincoln CenterTue May 14 19
MetrographTue May 14 19
Film at Lincoln CenterWed May 15 19
MetrographWed May 15 19
Film at Lincoln CenterThu May 16 19
MetrographThu May 16 19
Film at Lincoln CenterFri May 17 19
Film at Lincoln CenterSat May 18 19
Film at Lincoln CenterSun May 19 19
MetrographSun May 19 19
Film at Lincoln CenterMon May 20 19
Film at Lincoln CenterTue May 21 19
Film at Lincoln CenterWed May 22 19
MetrographWed May 22 19
Film at Lincoln CenterThu May 23 19
MetrographThu May 23 19
Film at Lincoln CenterFri May 24 19
MetrographMon May 27 19
MetrographTue May 28 19
MetrographThu May 30 19
MetrographFri May 31 19
MetrographSat Jun 1 19
MetrographTue Jun 4 19
MetrographWed Jun 5 19
MetrographThu Jun 6 19
MetrographSun Jun 30 19
Museum of the Moving ImageLong Day's Journey Into NightBi Gan2018139 minDCP1:00pm4:00pmFri Jul 12 19
MetrographSat Jul 13 19
Museum of the Moving ImageLong Day's Journey Into NightBi Gan2018139 minDCP1:45pmSun Jul 14 19
MetrographSun Jul 14 19
Museum of the Moving ImageLong Day's Journey Into NightBi Gan2018139 minDCP6:30pmMon Jul 15 19
MetrographTue Jul 16 19
MetrographWed Jul 17 19
MetrographThu Jul 18 19
MetrographSat Jul 20 19
Museum of the Moving ImageLong Day's Journey Into NightBi Gan2018139 minDCP2:30pmWed Jul 24 19
MetrographMon Jul 29 19
MetrographSun Aug 4 19
MetrographMon Aug 5 19
MetrographTue Aug 6 19
MetrographWed Aug 7 19
MetrographThu Aug 8 19
MetrographThu Aug 15 19
MetrographSun Aug 18 19
MetrographTue Aug 27 19
MetrographThu Aug 29 19
MetrographSun Sep 1 19
MetrographMon Sep 2 19
MetrographFri Sep 13 19
Film at Lincoln CenterSat Sep 14 19
Film at Lincoln CenterSun Sep 15 19
Film at Lincoln CenterMon Sep 16 19
Film at Lincoln CenterWed Sep 18 19
Film at Lincoln CenterThu Sep 19 19
Film at Lincoln CenterFri Sep 20 19
Film at Lincoln CenterSat Sep 21 19
Film at Lincoln CenterSun Sep 22 19
Film at Lincoln CenterMon Sep 23 19
Film at Lincoln CenterTue Sep 24 19
Film at Lincoln CenterWed Sep 25 19
Film at Lincoln CenterThu Sep 26 19
Film at Lincoln CenterThu Dec 26 19
Museum of Modern ArtSun Dec 29 19
Museum of the Moving ImageSun Dec 6 20
MetrographMon Dec 7 20
Metrograph