CHINESE DIRECTOR QIU SHENG EXPLORES GRIEF AND AI IN ‘MY FATHER’S SON’

The profound human experience of grief, a universal ache that transcends cultures and eras, often compels us to seek solace in unexpected realms. In the captivating landscape of contemporary Chinese cinema, a rising auteur, Qiu Sheng, embarks on a deeply personal and groundbreaking journey, utilizing the speculative potential of artificial intelligence to navigate the labyrinthine corridors of loss and memory. His latest offering, ‘My Father’s Son’, which premiered with significant acclaim at the Shanghai International Film Festival, is not merely a film; it is a poignant exploration of enduring familial bonds, a meditation on the healing power of technology, and a visionary commentary on the evolving narrative of Chinese science fiction. This genre-bending drama, weaving together intimate family sentiment with subtle sci-fi elements, promises to redefine how audiences perceive grief, technology, and the delicate art of remembrance.

A PERSONAL JOURNEY INTO THE HEART OF GRIEF

At the core of ‘My Father’s Son’ lies an intensely personal narrative, rooted in Qiu Sheng’s own adolescent trauma. When he was just fifteen, still in high school, a sudden notification from his teacher shattered his world: his father had passed away. What followed was a moment of profound anguish that would indelibly mark his memory and, years later, serve as the genesis for his cinematic creation. Tasked with reading a eulogy at the funeral, the young Qiu Sheng was overwhelmed, losing his voice and abruptly fleeing in a raw display of grief. This exact scene becomes the haunting opening of ‘My Father’s Son’, introducing protagonist Qiao, an 18-year-old mirroring the director’s own experience.

The film’s narrative then skillfully unfurls across past, present, and future timelines, portraying Qiao’s arduous grapple with his late father’s complex legacy. Through a series of childhood flashbacks, we witness the stern yet secretive presence of his father, a figure who instilled in him a love for boxing. A decade later, now an engineer, Qiao channels his yearning into a bold, technologically driven endeavor: he attempts to “resurrect” his father by coding an AI boxing simulator in the older man’s digital image. This innovative approach to storytelling allows ‘My Father’s Son’ to transcend conventional grief narratives, offering a unique blend of speculative imagination and profound emotional intimacy.

THE AI PARADIGM: REVIVING MEMORIES, RECONSIDERING REALITY

The catalyst for Qiu Sheng’s integration of artificial intelligence into his personal narrative was a story he encountered in 2020: a Korean mother who, through the immersive power of VR, virtually resurrected her deceased daughter in a digital garden. This revelation struck him profoundly, providing the missing piece for his long-gestating story: the son’s journey to reconnect with his father through AI.

Qiu Sheng’s conceptualization of AI is far from the typical dystopian or utopian portrayals. Instead, he views artificial intelligence as the modern manifestation of a spiritual entity. As he articulates, AI possesses no physical body or age, yet it holds access to the entirety of human history and knowledge. For him, this makes it akin to a “contemporary form of a ghost” or, perhaps more resonantly within the context of Chinese culture, a digital vessel for ancestral worship. When one engages with AI in this context, it becomes a dialogue with a reflection of one’s own internal landscape. If sadness prevails, one confronts one’s sadness; if joy, one’s joy. The film subtly explores this ambiguity, ultimately leading the protagonist Qiao to a realization about the limitations of this digital solace, culminating in him discarding the AI, signifying a necessary step towards acceptance and moving forward. This nuanced depiction of AI’s role in grief challenges audiences to ponder the ethical and emotional complexities of leveraging technology to bridge the chasm of loss.

BEYOND BLOCKBUSTERS: THE EVOLUTION OF CHINESE SCI-FI

‘My Father’s Son’ marks a significant and refreshing departure from the prevailing trends in Chinese science fiction cinema. While the country has recently seen box-office giants like ‘The Wandering Earth’ franchise, which often embrace grand spectacle reminiscent of Hollywood blockbusters, Qiu Sheng’s film offers a distinctively quieter, more introspective, and deeply rooted approach.

ARTFUL AND INTROSPECTIVE SCI-FI

Qiu Sheng’s cinematic vision aligns more closely with the works of Japanese directors like Kiyoshi Kurosawa, whose films such as ‘Pulse’ and ‘Journey to the Shore’ skillfully embed sci-fi elements within mundane, naturalistic settings. In ‘My Father’s Son’, the futuristic components, such as the AI father remaining a humble boxing partner, organically emerge from everyday reality. They serve as embodiments of intimate desires and thoughts, rather than being mere visual extravaganzas. This grounding in the ordinary imbues the film with a unique resonance, reflecting distinctly Chinese cultural undercurrents.

HANGZHOU’S DUALITY AS INSPIRATION

The film’s setting, Qiu Sheng’s hometown of Hangzhou, plays a pivotal role in shaping its aesthetic and thematic fabric. Hangzhou, a city where ultra-modern skyscrapers illuminate thousand-year-old canals, perfectly mirrors the film’s blend of cutting-edge technology with traditional values like filial piety. This geographical and cultural duality provides a rich backdrop, transforming the real-life gap between ancient textures and futuristic projections into the very essence of the film’s gentle sci-fi atmosphere. ‘My Father’s Son’ suggests a promising new direction for Chinese sci-fi: one that prioritizes emotional depth and cultural specificity over sheer scale.

SYMBOLISM AND CINEMATIC CRAFTSMANSHIP

Qiu Sheng’s directorial prowess is evident in his masterful use of symbolism and meticulously crafted visual storytelling.

THE METAPHOR OF BOXING

Boxing, a central motif, extends beyond a mere plot device to become a potent metaphor for the intricate father-son relationship. The sport, brutal yet inherently intimate, embodies discipline, self-betterment, and a unique form of unspoken communication. As Qiu Sheng observes, the paradoxical mix of fighting and hugging in boxing mirrors the complex dynamic between father and son. In the film, particularly in the training scenes where the father uses bare fists while the son sits by the window, their interaction transcends physical training, evolving into a synchronized, almost dance-like creation of intimacy and coherence. The film also cleverly traces the evolution of violence portrayal through boxing, from archival Edison Studios footage of 1894 to modern video games like ‘Street Fighter’ and VR boxing, suggesting a desire to halt this escalation.

WATER AS A RECURRING MOTIF

Water is another powerful and consistently recurring motif throughout ‘My Father’s Son’. The frequent rain, the omnipresent canals of Hangzhou, and scenes where characters unexpectedly go swimming, sometimes fully clothed, all contribute to its symbolic weight. This imagery is deeply tied to the city itself, with its network of canals, lakes, and streams connecting to the sea. It also links to Qiu Sheng’s family history, as his grandparents migrated through the canal before settling in Hangzhou. Symbolically, water represents the flow of past, present, and future, and it serves as a potent metaphor for both birth and death. The father’s eventual drowning in the water, perhaps a hallucination of returning to birth, encapsulates this profound connection to life’s fundamental cycles.

VISUAL STYLE ACROSS TIME

The film’s distinct three-part structure—spanning past, present, and future—is brilliantly articulated through varying visual styles, each with its own unique look and feel.

* For the past, the cinematography predominantly employs medium shots, keeping the audience close to the characters, almost documenting their raw behaviors. The colors are deliberately more vibrant, reminiscent of the heightened hues of memory.
* The second part, representing the present or near-present, utilizes longer takes, following the protagonist through the bustling city. This stylistic choice effectively conveys his anxiety and inability to find peace amidst the urban chaos.
* The third part, set in the future, shifts to cooler color palettes and wider angles. This creates a sense of alienation, emphasizing how individuals might become distanced in a technologically advanced, perhaps less human, future.

This thoughtful approach to visual storytelling not only guides the audience through the film’s temporal shifts but also enhances its thematic depth.

THE ARTIST’S PERSPECTIVE: AI, INDUSTRY, AND CATHARSIS

Qiu Sheng’s unique background, having studied neuroscience before dedicating himself to filmmaking, offers him a distinctive lens through which to view the promises and perils of artificial intelligence.

AI: COEXISTENCE, NOT REPLACEMENT

Contrary to popular anxieties about AI replacing humanity, Qiu Sheng believes in coexistence. He posits that AI is less an evolutionary successor and more akin to a “virus” or a “ghost”—an entity that occupies virtual, mental, and spiritual spaces rather than physical ones. He envisions a future where humans and AI co-exist, with AI potentially even reducing our need to interact with the virtual world, which he finds “quite nice.”

He expresses a nuanced critique of much of today’s AI-generated content (AIGC) in China, which he feels often merely mimics past human works. Instead, he sees AI’s true potential in creating surreal and imaginative results, drawing parallels to the early, groundbreaking films of Méliès. Qiu Sheng himself is keen to experiment with AI to create a surrealist film, hoping it can guide cinema back to its imaginative origins.

CHALLENGES IN THE CHINESE FILM INDUSTRY

Qiu Sheng also offers candid insights into the current mood and challenges facing the Chinese film industry. He notes a prevailing pessimism, especially after a brief period of optimism following ‘The Wandering Earth’ and a golden age for young directors between 2015 and COVID-19. Despite some international successes, like Bi Gan’s ‘Resurrections’ at Cannes, many Chinese films selected by major festivals struggle to secure release in their home country, leading to discouragement. The box office, after a strong start to 2024 with ‘Nezha 2’, has since remained cold, adding to the stress felt by many in the industry. The challenge lies in rekindling optimism for the future, which he believes is crucial for the genre’s re-emergence in China.

FILMMAKING AS THERAPY AND RELEASE

For Qiu Sheng, the creation of ‘My Father’s Son’ over seven arduous years was profoundly therapeutic. It allowed him to engage with and understand his father, albeit through an imagined version, and, crucially, to understand himself. He recounts being consumed by grief, endlessly pouring emotion into a void. The turning point arrived during editing when he consciously decided to “put down the glasses and let him go,” releasing himself from the grip of sorrow that had consumed his life. This act of letting go, facilitated by the very process of filmmaking, ultimately brought him a profound sense of peace and healing.

A CINEMATIC TRIBUTE TO THE HUMAN SPIRIT

‘My Father’s Son’ stands as a powerful testament to the enduring human spirit’s capacity to navigate loss and find solace in unexpected forms. Qiu Sheng’s unique blend of personal history, cultural insights, and speculative technology creates a film that is both deeply intimate and broadly resonant. It encourages audiences to reflect on their own relationships, the nature of grief, and the evolving role of technology in our emotional lives. As Chinese cinema continues to evolve, films like ‘My Father’s Son’ signify a vital shift towards more introspective, culturally specific, and emotionally rich storytelling, reminding us that even in the most advanced futures, the search for connection remains eternally human.