A Long Journey Home
Armed with a camera, director Zhang Wenqian returns home from her studies abroad. Three generations of family members live ‘together alone’ yet on top of each other in the 120-square-metre apartment. Although Zhang and her mother share a bed, the distance between them is palpable. Topics like money, buying a house, relationships and marriage are sparks that ignite long, bitter conversations, and the arguments between her mother and father unfold in gut-wrenching honesty.
A Long Journey Home is an aesthetically unassuming film that belies a world of tension and change. Zhang sharply but respectfully cares for this family portrait, turning her personal experiences into a cinematic document. In a series of patient observational shots, the film takes us into the heart of Zhang’s odyssey, showing how fractured a family can be, even while living under the same roof.
