Starring: Zhang Yi, Liu Haocun, Fan Wei, Yu Ailei, Zhang Shaobo Director: Zhang Yimou

ZHANG YIMOU has described “One Second” as his “love letter to cinema.” The film looked set to restore Zhang’s festival circuit standing after the venerable Fifth Generation figurehead had spent much of the past decade trying to give China a global blockbuster with such pricey spectacles as “The Flowers of War” (2011) and “The Great Wall” (2017).

In the early 1970s, a nameless fugitive (Zhang Yi) escapes from a Gansu Province labor camp, desperate to see a newsreel which contains a glimpse of his estranged daughter at her school. Arriving too late for the screening, he learns that he has one more chance as the program is scheduled to be shown at another village the following evening. Spotting a scruffy young woman, “orphan” Liu (Liu Haocun) running away with one of the reels, he manages to retrieve it and treks across the arid desert to the next engagement.

After a game of one-upmanship with the persistent Liu, who has her own family-oriented reasons for wanting to get her hands on some film, the reel is returned to the projectionist (Fan Wei). Unfortunately, the other reels have become unwound in transit and dragged through the dirt. Residents eager to watch the main feature, Wu Zhaoti’s wartime drama “Heroic Sons and Daughters” (1964), pitch in for massive cleanup operation, but the fugitive still runs the risk of being reported to the security division.

“One Second” has some hearty laughs early on with the fugitive and Liu trying to outsmart one another in largely silent, slapstick fashion against the richly distinctive backdrop, then vying for the sympathy of a truck driver (Yu Yang) by opportunistically plying heart-wrenching half-truths. Dismissed on more than one occasion as a “bad element,” the fugitive is an archetypical tragicomic protagonist who is either unfairly misunderstood or amusingly fails in his hapless attempts to make amends, while Liu is an appreciably spiky foil.

Briskly paced by editor Du Yuan, the film has an unfussy, incidental feel that may surprise those anticipating a grand statement about the tumultuous time in which its director came of age. However, there are flickers of frustration, especially in the terrific lead performances which brim with anger.

Typically keeping verbal exposition to a minimum, Zhang shows how a father-daughter bond tentatively develops between the fugitive and Liu, even if the atmosphere of the time entails that trust cannot be fully established. The same applies to the fragile bargain struck between the runaway and the outwardly avuncular projectionist, known as “Mr. Movie” for his unrivalled professionalism. Adroitly played by Fan, the kind hearted projectionist reflects human complexities in the era of re-education as he tries to find a compromise between assisting the fugitive and remaining in the good graces of regional officials.

While there are a few jabs, Zhang’s recreation of his formative encounters with celluloid is nostalgic on the whole. Reels glisten as they are restored to viewable condition, close-ups of vintage technology pay tribute to its rugged durability and the shared viewing pleasure of the townsfolk is touchingly juxtaposed with the fugitive’s more intimate response. A piquant blend of comedy and drama, “One Second” is a welcome return to personal territory for Zhang which will prove particularly delightful for ardent cineastes.

The movie is now being screened in Shenzhen.

(SD-Agencies)