Tuan Yuan Opens Berlin International Film Festival

Thousands of film-lovers (and film-loving journalists) descend on Berlin every year for the Berlin International Film Festival, which opened this afternoon with the world premiere of Wang Quan’an’s “Tuan Yuan” (”Apart Together”).

The film is a love story as well as a study of the contrasts– generational, cultural, architectural– in modern China. “Apart Together” examines both the joy and pain wrought by reunification, a theme that makes it a fitting choice for the 60th Berlinale. The city of Berlin celebrated the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Wall last year. “People are less demonstrative about their feelings in China,” said Wang, “but the longing to be together is the same everywhere.”

Reitmeier, who doesn’t speak any Mandarin but has collaborated with Wang on three films including “Apart Together,” said that there was a conscious decision to make the film look like a theatre piece– hence the multiple scenes around the table or in small apartment bedrooms.

The film’s warm, domestic tableaux seemed to sooth the press who had come in from the cold– light snow and low-20 degree temperatures  are certainly perfect movie-going weather. And if you use your imagination, snowy Potsdamer Platz in the middle of Berlin looks a bit like hazy Shanghai.