An Elephant Sitting Still (2018)

Four people. Four stories. One desolate city. An elephant sitting still.

A teenager fleeing retaliation, an elderly man abandoned by his family, a student caught in a scandal, and a man burdened by guilt. Four individuals long to escape a city that offers little hope in search of a legendary elephant that never moves. Hu Bo’s debut feature became his final work. The world he envisions is a wasteland, where people are trapped in cycles of despair, powerless to change their circumstances. Through its unbroken long takes and deliberate pacing, the film stretches time, immersing audiences in its characters’ suffering and helplessness. The film compels a confrontation of the structural conditions that perpetuate despair and the quiet violence of daily existence.