'Til Madness Do Us Part

'Til Madness Do Us Part
International promotional poster
Traditional Chinese瘋愛
Simplified Chinese疯爱
Directed byWang Bing
Written byWang Bing
Produced by
  • Wang Bing
  • Louise Prince
Cinematography
  • Wang Bing
  • Xianhui Liu
Edited by
  • Wang Bing
  • Adam Kerby
Production
companies
Distributed by
  • Les Acacias (France)
  • Moviola (Japan)
Release dates
  • 4 September 2013 (2013-09-04) (Venice)[1]
  • 11 March 2015 (2015-03-11) (France)
Running time
228 minutes
Countries
  • China
  • Japan
  • France
  • Italy
LanguageMandarin

'Til Madness Do Us Part (simplified Chinese: 疯爱; traditional Chinese: 瘋愛) is a 2013 Chinese cinema verité documentary film directed by Wang Bing. It observes the daily activity on one floor of a Chinese mental institution in Yunnan, Southwest of China.

The film had its world premiere out of competition at the 70th Venice International Film Festival, on 4 September 2013.[2][3][4]

Premise

The floor of the Chinese mental institution houses 50 male patients, including individuals who have killed someone, those who committed crimes against public officials, and those with developmental disabilities.[4] It is not clearly stated why the men are in the mental institution, adding to the observational approach of the documentary.[2] The documentary film uses handheld camerawork and digital video to capture the relationship between society and individuals.[4] Towards the end of the film, one of the patients is allowed to return to his home village. It creates a contrast to the isolation and atmosphere of the mental institution.[2]

Reception

Slant Magazine said, "Whether in terms of filmmaking or indeed reality itself, it's hard to think of a more quietly radical proposition than the one Wang is making here: There's compassion to be found in even the harshest of circumstances; it's all about knowing where to look."[5]

Festivals

The documentary was shown at the following festivals

  • 2013 Venice Film Festival
  • Winner, 2013 Festival des 3 Continents of Nantes
  • 2013 Toronto Film Festival
  • 2013 Rio Film Festival
  • 2013 Busan Film Festival
  • 2013 DocLisboa
  • 2013 Viennale
  • 2013 Golden Horse Festival
  • 2014 Rotterdam Film Festival
  • 2014 Goteborg Film Festival
  • 2014 Hong Kong Film Festival
  • 2014 Sydney Film Festival
  • 2014 Edinburgh Film Festival
  • 2014 Melbourne Film Festival
  • 2014 Geneva Film Festival[4]

References

  1. ^ "Venice Film Review: ''Til Madness Do Us Part'". 13 September 2013. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
  2. ^ a b c Chang, Justin (13 September 2013). "Venice Film Review: 'Til Madness Do Us Part'". Variety. Retrieved 23 June 2018.
  3. ^ Monder, Eric (9 June 2016). "Film Review: 'Til Madness Do Us Part". Film Journal International. Retrieved 23 June 2018.
  4. ^ a b c d "'Til Madness Do Us Part". icarusfilms.com. Retrieved 23 June 2018.
  5. ^ Lattimer, James. "Review: 'Til Madness Do Us Part". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 3 May 2022.