“Resurrection” by Bi Gan, released in the United States on Dec. 12, is set in a world where humanity has lost the ability to dream; it has exchanged it for immortality.
The film centers on a Deliriant – someone who still dreams. Following each dream, Jackson Yee shapeshifts depending on the setting, dies and gets resurrected, as Bi Gan showcases an autopsy of the Deliriant, staging the morgue as a film set.
Being animated, he lived through various genres across a century of cinema, utilizing production tools such as costumes, makeup and set design.
For what seems to be hours of dreaming, the Delirant has been resurrected for centuries; as a silent picture enhanced by hand-cranked props and title cards; exhibiting a noir mystery thriller that emphasizes muffled sounds; a Buddhist Folklore highlighting the philosophy of tasting bitterness; flaunting a neorealist genre where he mentors a child to use her olfactory abilities; then as a modern paranormal romance where he seeks physical connection.
These segments serve as a meditation on being human, divided into the six senses acknowledged in Buddhist thought, each represented through different cinematic styles.
Bi Gan and his team meticulously and intentionally drew from centuries of cinema in the film’s sound design, staging, lighting, and cinematography, withstanding Jackson Yee as he displays his range by navigating five roles: the Deliriant, Qiu Moyun, Mongrel, Jia Sheng Jun and Apollo. At a press conference during the film’s release at the Cannes Film Festival, Yee shared that he did not focus on the common traits that the five characters share, but instead ensured that each one is as distinct as possible.
Despite its careful construction, the film is still full of uncertainty. Each segment of the five characters Jackson Yee plays wanders through the meaning of life, settling the Deliriant in an existential drift as he transitions from one segment to the next.
During a Q&A at the 63rd New York Film Festival, Bi Gan said “I was thinking about this long time-span, going from the twenties and through the twenty-first century, is to somehow make a film for the people who still have the ability to love, amidst all the different situations they are in, whether they are something that is pure, something that is sparse, or something that is conflicting … those are the people I want to make this film for.” The film is more than a monumental love letter to a century of cinema; it is a love letter to the people who love cinema. It begins and ends in a theatre, with the audience staring straight at the camera.
The film immerses viewers in human senses because, beyond what an archaeologist can recover, those senses are evidence of human existence. It encourages viewers to believe in their natural senses, representing them through various cinematic styles that parallel the way humans document their lives.
“Resurrection” tells the audience that the film is about them. The audience has made cinema alive for centuries because it’s worshiped like a religion. It wants the audience to live their life as a main character, much like the way the Deliriant did in his dreams.
