EXCLUSIVE: Here’s the first-look trailer from intriguing Toronto Film Festival entry Cities Of Last Things. From director Ho Wi Ding, the sci-fi-fi drama is told in reverse-chronological order, revealing one man’s fraught inner world and the circumstances that led to a life-altering decision. A Taiwan/China/France/U.S. co-production, it’s running in the Platform section on September 8.
Filmed in Taiwan, the movie stars Hong-Chi Lee (Long Day’s Journey Into Night), Louise Grinberg, Jack Kao, Lu Huang and Stone (of the Taiwanese band Mayday).
The film, set in the pulse-pounding rhythm of the underbelly of an unnamed city, opens with the image of a man hurling himself to his death off a multi-storey apartment building. The story follows Lao Zhang, a depressed, ex-police officer pining for a lost love and fighting with his unfaithful wife about their long-soured relationship. But Lao intends to finally act, with a calculated fury, in the hope of killing the deep-seated pain that is tearing him apart. Tracking backwards through time, the world opens up around him, revealing his relationships with the women who were pivotal to the person he has become.
Wild Bunch is repping world sales excluding China, Taiwan and France. Taiwan-based Changhe Films co-produced with China-based Hymn Pictures, Singapore’s MM2 Entertainment, the U.S.’ Ivanhoe Films and France’s Rumble Fish. Kaohsiung City Government, the Ministry of Culture of Taiwan, Taipei City’s Department of Cultural Affairs and the Ile de France Region also participated. Ho produces with Chih-Hsin Hu, Winnie Lau, Alexis Perrin and Ronan Wong.
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