Kaili Blues (2015) review

Physician (and former criminal) Chen Sheng (Yongzhong Chen) argues with his half-brother Crazy Face (Lixun Xie) over his mistreatment of his son Weiwei (Feiyang Luo), so when Weiwei goes missing - presumably to the county of Zhenyuan - Chen sets out to look for him, except on his journey time itself seems to be altered and Weiwei has become an adult.  Bi's second feature was inspired, in part, by the same sci-fi book (Roadside Picnic by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky) that Tarkovsky adapted into his 1979 film Stalker, and like the Soviet master he considers himself a poet of the medium (which is admirable), although the completed product could have used some polishing and refining since it's still a little choppy and inconclusive.  The much-discussed forty-minute long-take - supposedly recorded with a Canon EOS 5D Mark III - must have taken up a significant portion of Bi's focus: it's an interesting use of modern technology but it's also a distraction because it draws attention away from the narrative.  It's worth noting that the auteur was only twenty-six the year this was released, and with it he reveals himself to be considerably more introspective than many - if not most - of his peers.