TIFF 2021: One Second Review

This will be one of many reviews during this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, to keep up with our latest coverage, click here.

When it comes to Chinese cinema (Territories of Hong Kong and Taiwan excluded), there is no one more influential and widely celebrated than Zhang Yimou. One of the leading filmmakers of the 5th wave of Chinese cinema, Yimou rose to fame in the 90s with classics such as Raise the Red Lantern. His films were often female-lead historical epics that depicted traditional Chinese culture. In the 2000s, he became one of the most widely recognized international filmmakers, after his Martial Arts oriented epics Hero and House of Flying Daggers, made a splash at the American box office. Despite his films achieving enormous commercial success, the quality of his films began to rapidly decrease and critics have completely dismissed him in recent years, claiming that he had sold out.

Fortunately, he proves with his latest film One Second that he still has some fuel left in the tank. Taking place in the middle of the desert towards the end of the Cultural Revolution in China, the film stars Zhang Yi as its nameless protagonist; an escaped convict who strikes up an unlikely friendship with a young girl, after she steals an important roll of film from him. The film depicts a difficult period in China’s history and explores how cinema was the one of the few cultural experiences that the masses could bond over. It’s a love letter to the art form and an examination of how it provides both an escape, as well as a way for us to connect to our world and the people around us.

Yimou is a master of his craft in terms of visual storytelling, so it comes as no surprise that One Second is one of the most gorgeous looking films of the year so far. With the cinematography capturing the sweeping desert landscapes, the film transports audiences into the world that Yimou has crafted. However, unlike his most recent efforts, this film is also extremely effective from an emotional standpoint. It’s epic and immersive in its presentation, but leaves room for some more intimate moments, that allow the film to feel more grounded and universally relatable. The story is completely captivating, and the film’s warm-hearted nature makes it very easy to connect to the characters on screen.

While the film’s slightly anticlimactic conclusion leaves more to be desired, One Second is Yimou’s best film in years and will satisfy long-time fans, as well act as an accessible introduction to his extensive body of work for newer cinephiles.

still courtesy of Elevation Pictures

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Tristan French