One Second: Zhang Yimou’s homage to the cinema

The story of an escape and a broken existence that seeks redemption, a way to find the right way and to put together the broken pieces of resistance to the Party. One Second, the new film by Zhang Yimou premiered at the Rome Film Fest and arriving in cinemas on December 16 distributed by Fenix ​​Entertainment and Europictures, it presents itself as a heroic epic that fails to hide a special tribute to cinema and the big screen. We are in the years of the Chinese Cultural Revolution, and it is there that the young vagabond Liu Guinu steals a film chased by Zhang Jiusheng, an escape from a forced labor camp ready to do anything to hold it in his hands, even at the cost of his own freedom. .

A singular thriller that, together with the reverence for cinema and a humanity that slowly begins to unfold and reveal itself, also introduces many successful characters such as Mr. Film, the projectionist of the cinema whom the rest of the people treat with a veneration and a reverence bordering on tolerability just for being a prominent member of the party. “I’ll never forget certain scenes from the movies I watched as a child. The excitement and happiness beyond words was like a dream. Films accompany us as we grow up “, said director Zhang Yimou, who in One Second he wanted to write a love letter to the art to which he dedicated his life.

«Dreams accompany us throughout our life. There is always one particular movie that one remembers for a lifetime, and perhaps not just the movie itself, but also the kind of expectation it captures, a desire to gaze at the stars. One Second it is dedicated to all those who love movies ». A dedication imprinted in every single frame of this almost fairytale adventure that catapults us into a China where everyone struggles to survive and, above all, to savor a bit of freedom. Whether the protagonists succeed or die in the attempt, however, remains to be seen.