The Shadowless Tower

The Shadowless Tower (Chinese: 白塔之光) is a 2023 Chinese drama film written and directed by Korean-Chinese filmmaker Zhang Lü and stars Xin Baiqing, Tian Zhuangzhuang and Huang Yao. The film depicts the warm story of people healing and accompanying each other exhibiting family bond and love.[1]

The Shadowless Tower
Promotional poster
Traditional Chinese白塔之光
Literal meaningLight of the White Tower
Directed byZhang Lü
Screenplay byZhang Lü
Produced by
  • Xu Jiahan
  • Peng Jin
  • Zhang Jian
  • Huang Yue
  • Lu Sheng
Starring
CinematographyPiao Songri
Edited byLiu Xinzhu
Music byXiao He
Production
companies
  • Lu Films
  • Emei Film Investment
  • Great Luck Films
  • La Fonte
  • KO Media
Distributed byFilms Boutique
Release date
Running time
144 minutes
CountryChina
LanguageMandarin

It is selected to compete for the Golden Bear at the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival, where it had its world premiere on 18 February 2023.[2]

Synopsis

Name of the film

The name of film is from a landmark of a 13th-century Buddhist temple in the Xicheng District of Beijing, the White Pagoda. The eccentric design of temple, makes it hard to see its shadow. This has given rise to the local legend that its shade can actually be found some two thousand miles away in Tibet, the temple’s spiritual home. It is used as imperfect metaphor for a lifestage of the protagonist. Hence the name: The Shadowless Tower.[3]

A middle-aged man living alone in Beijing, met young photographer at work. He learned the whereabouts of his father who had lost contact with him for more than forty years. Encouraged by the photographer he faces his father and regained the long-lost father-son relationship.

Cast

Release

The Shadowless Tower had its world premiere on 18 February 2023 at the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival.[4]

The Berlin- and Lyon-based international sales agent Film Boutique has sales right for the film.[5]

Reception

On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes website, the film has an approval rating of 89% based on 9 reviews, with an average rating of 7.3/10.[6] On Metacritic, it has a weighted average score of 78 out of 100 based on 4 reviews, indicating "Generally Favorable Reviews".[7]

Jessica Kiang reviewing at Berlin Film Festival, for Variety praised the cinematography and music writing, "The warmth of Piao Songri’s photography is a constant, as is his facility for the offbeat framing of even the most everyday encounter, using doorways or reflections or a quickly shifting focus." Kiang added, "And the soundtrack is equally witty, composer Xiao's delicately used score has a signature flourish". Concluding Kiang wrote, "The film ambles onward, it reveals its arcs of change not in dramatic showdowns or sudden revelations, but in ellipses, in the occasional mysterious fold in chronology and, most rewardingly, in the casual, unforced repetition of certain motifs."[3] David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter calling the film a contemplative film of quiet rewards, stated, "Piao Songri’s loose, fluid camerawork trails the protagonist, played with soulful intelligence by Xin, there’s both a haunting sense of all that he’s lost and a newfound self-knowledge that perhaps might propel him forward with greater openness."[8] Lee Marshall for ScreenDaily wrote in review that "The film’s delicacy of touch comes through not only in the bittersweet love story at its centre, but in a wealth of seemingly marginal details."[9]

Accolades
Award Date Category Recipient Result Ref.
Berlin International Film Festival 16–26 February 2023 Golden Bear The Shadowless Tower Nominated [10]

References
  1. Zhang Mixi (24 January 2023). "《白塔之光》入围第73届柏林电影节主竞赛单元" ["The Light of the White Tower" was shortlisted for the main competition unit of the 73rd Berlin Film Festival]. The China Press (in Chinese). Qiaobao. Retrieved 4 February 2023.
  2. Rosser, Michael (23 January 2023). "Berlin Film Festival reveals 2023 competition line-up". Screen Daily. Retrieved 4 February 2023.
  3. Kiang, Jessica (18 February 2023). "The Shadowless Tower' Review: An Unusually Polite Midlife Crisis Makes for a Wry and Wistful Chinese Charmer". Variety. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  4. Abbatescianni, Davide (26 January 2023). "The Berlinale announces its Competition and Encounters titles, plus Ukraine- and Iran-focused solidarity initiatives". Cineuropa. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
  5. Katz, David (9 February 2023). "Films Boutique pins its hopes on The Shadowless Tower for the Berlinale". Cineuropa. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
  6. "The Shadowless Tower (Drama 2023)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
  7. "The Shadowless Tower". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
  8. Rooney, David (18 February 2023). "The Shadowless Tower (Bai Ta Zhi Guang) Review: A Divorced Food Critic Reconsiders His Existence in Affecting Minor-Key Drama". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  9. Marshall, Lee (18 February 2023). "'The Shadowless Tower': Berlin Review". ScreenDaily. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  10. Ramachandran, Naman; Vivarelli, Nick (23 January 2023). "Berlin Film Festival Reveals Competition Lineup (Updating Live)". Variety. Retrieved 4 February 2023.
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