The Looming Storm

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There was a strong wave of independent and incredible arthouse cinema that came out of nowhere during the 2010s, primarily from an unexpected Mainland China. These films were focused on various aspects of life within China, often roaming around the industrial zones, within the chaotic small cities coated in snow and harsh rains. Perfect locations for crime dramas that explored broken characters within even more broken surroundings. I absolutely loved discovering these films, and that itch remains as it appears most of those directors simply disappeared. Some became propaganda pieces for the government and made Covid related films that showcased the strength of the nation during its difficult time, others just sort of fell off and haven't made anything since. Bi Gan coming back with Resurrection sometime this year after quite a hiatus from directing. Though Dong Yue is a director that came and went, again one of those propaganda pieces for the Chinese government after making quite a name for himself with The Looming Storm. And this film remains one of my favourites.

Primarily for its directing style, one that heavily influenced me and my photography pursuits. Finding fascination in unlikely settings to tell stories where otherwise they are neglected. Remote locations being the centrepiece for horrific crimes that go unsolved. Reminding me quite a bit of Korea's Memories of Murder film which remains one of the more powerful films of Asian cinema to this date. We tend to think of remote areas as generally safer, with cities being where the crime is. Dong Yue's directing relied on very wide angle focal lengths but still utilised depth within them, sometimes shooting a bit more wide open and having characters interact with the foreground and background. Other times, more depth within the shot to tell the story of the environment, one dark and polluted. A place that certainly would be compared with death and decay by the more natural means. Where large pipes and smoke stacks scatter across the landscape. The.Looming.Storm.2017.CHINESE.1080p.BluRay.H264.AAC-VXT-0003.png Its narrative is one that explores that rural anxiety, however. Where the suspicion arises given the clear evidence that the killer is someone within the area, likely working in one of the main factories. And through this the story explores a more obsessive protagonist as he begins to lose his own sanity constantly chasing people and seeing things in the heavy downpours that mask the small city both in night and day. Solving this killing spree also becoming his identity, and this is something that comes into question much earlier in the film when he meets a woman that directly asks him what his ambitions are, and whether he has any intent on doing something with his life; to his defence, claiming that he's content. Though clearly not. I liked that there's this hidden figure running around performing the killings, and we see very little of what's going on in that sense. To the point where our own protagonist chases someone through a factory, dressed almost identically as him throughout the film. No clear indications to signify someone that stands out.

Again, from a directing and cinematography perspective, everything is built around this depressing, dark landscape. Set in the late 1990s, the film really holds that look of tech slowly growing but the decay and economic struggles that come with constant attempts at industrialism. Where the victims aren't just those killed, but those struggling to survive in such an environment in the first place. And this is where we see what the film is truly about; not the killings and solving them. Not the developments of the protagonist himself, but more a film that speaks on the changing landscapes of China, and how those in such areas only know of the suffering. The killing being more a reason for our protagonist to end up in such an environment and start seeing it for himself.

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It may be a bit of a confusing film in some regards. But it's one that is truly unique, and no surprise that there aren't a whole lot of films that came about after it in a similar style. After all, such films were still critical of the government and how things were performing even in the past. Some managed to skip by censors by only releasing abroad, others had big changes to their stories. But the main message still gets across. The Looming Storm really is about a looming storm, one that brings over socio-economic struggle. The changes of culture and ideology. The loss of colour in life in pursuit of something new.

In 2015, the BBC published an article labelling China's Baogang Steel as "the worst place on Earth" for being a dark reminder of the environmental damage caused by our on-going desperation for metals that form our technological advancements. The factory forever pumping out toxic waste into what is now a lake of incomprehensible pollution, darkening the sky and filling the horizon on a seemingly city-sized scale.

As one would expect, such a location may be perfect as a home to dystopian filmmaking and narratives, displaying the sheer dangers both environmentally and physically for the workers alone has films such as Brazil or Metropolis instantly come to mind. Even pop culture videogames such as Final Fantasy 7 have connected such destructive locations to convey narratives of greed and inhumanity.

While such locations are ripe within storytelling featuring dark dystopias and corporate greed, Dong yue's The Looming Storm uses one of such Chinese mills to display a very different type of destruction: the destruction of the human mind itself. Following protagonist Yu Guowei, a director of the security division for a large factory in a small, dying 90s town, we are instantly thrown into a crime noir narrative in which a series of clearly related murders spring up around the factory.

With Yu Guowei's profession being relatively mundane, it's evident that he's seeking more power and excitement in life. He's lonely, bored, and surrounded by an environment that is so void of humanity that he's captivated by the thought of a killer roaming around the town waiting to be captured. He becomes obsessed with being the person to capture the killer, to the point where he takes matters into his own hands as he begins to investigate things further.

The factory is a prominent feature found within the film, as is a constant heavy downpour of rain and mud. There's a constant reminder of decay and danger that stems from the location alone: a constant churning of machines, massive trains coming in and out from seemingly nowhere due to the utterly atrocious visibility as a result of constant pollution and weather. And while our protagonist realises the killer could very easily be among the workers, they're never in plain sight.

The film's strange obsession with poor weather and visibility isn't purely for atmospheric reasons, however, there's a clear distinction in a lack of humanity and boredom that results in this unhealthy obsession into solving the murders, and it's ultimately our protagonist who is in a perpetual state of poor visibility and being down in the dirt. The factory life treats all workers the same, where the working conditions and the lifestyle is void of emotion and one is easily replaced.

We see this through our protagonist's desperate actions and often complete disregard for safety and the law itself. Such desperate actions fixated not on bringing justice for either the law or the victims, but instead to fulfill his own lacking lifestyle in which he has nothing to lose. This trope itself is nothing particularly new to Chinese cinema, there's often some relation to society's decay and the depression that stems from poor working and living standards. Where individualism is seemingly nonexistent but still very much mentally present and longed for. An interesting connection to make is the fact that our protagonist, like the factory, is forever throwing exhaling smoke into the air. There's a clear addiction to smoking and complete disregard for personal health.

Though, one could look at The Looming Storm as one of many films that are telling tales of the destruction of our environment. It could be interpreted as man's long for bringing justice to destruction, but remaining ignorant and oblivious to our own destructive habbits. The film's final screen displaying an unrelated text regarding China's 2008 winter storms, in which China's worst winter was experienced and large districts were heavily impacted. Perhaps The Looming Storm itself is the damage being done and ignored, seeing the destruction in real-time but being oblivious and fixated on other issues.

Whatever the meaning truly being, The Looming Storm is a depressive film that flourishes with its gloomy colour palette and cinematography. For the most part, the film is entirely void of unique and lively colours. Everything is incredibly flat and void of life. Though remains incredibly beautiful through excellent directing and use of composition with the bleak surroundings.

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