Quiet Night Thoughts: Warped Time in Three Asian Arthouse Films

The past year has seen the release of China's Long Day's Journey into Night, South Korea's Winter's Night and Taiwan's Cities of Last Things – a loose triptych of films that challenge conventional narrative through complex, contemplative interventions into form and storyline. In distinct yet resonant ways, these intricate films offer ruminations on time and truth through hazy memories, half-understood thoughts and dreams that seem to intrude on waking life, writes Jessica Kiang.

Additional keywords:
Asian cinema, Bi Gan, Jang Woo-jin, Ho Wi Ding, metaphor, arthouse, Li Bai, Li Po, past, regret, reminiscence.