{"id":33417,"date":"2026-02-05T21:33:17","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T02:33:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=33417"},"modified":"2026-02-07T01:37:32","modified_gmt":"2026-02-07T06:37:32","slug":"sundance-film-festival-echoes-of-wong-kar-wai-in-moving-zi-by-kogonada","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=33417","title":{"rendered":"Sundance Film Festival: Echoes of Wong Kar-Wai in moving Zi by Kogonada"},"content":{"rendered":"

@Courtesy of Sundance Film Festival<\/span><\/p>\n

In order to fully appreciate this new movie directed by Kogonada<\/a>, you must understand that Zi<\/strong> is so far the most personal and likely free project he has realized. After Columbus<\/strong>, After Yang<\/strong> and A Big Bold Beautiful Journey<\/strong>, the director has in fact decided to lose even more from a classic form of cinematic narration in order to develop his vision based mostly (but not only) on atmosphere, fascinations and relationships between the three main characters.<\/span><\/p>\n

The plot that Zi<\/strong><\/a> is built on is basically a little more articulated than just a pitch: at the beginning we follow a young girl (Michelle Mao<\/a>) who wanders to the streets of Hong Kong having visions of herself. When she meets another woman (Haley Lou Richardson<\/a>) who quickly becomes her friend, everything changes. Together with another mysterious man (Jin Ha<\/a>) they have to navigate through the amazing night lights of the city, waiting for something to happen and make them understand what\u2019s going on with Zi and her condition.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/ins>\n

Kogonada asks the audience to let themselves immerged in the visual, acoustic, emotional journey he has developed: Zi<\/strong> is a sort of stream-of-consciousness piece of art, where the perception is more important than the logic, where capturing the beauty of a gesture, of a light (or a shadow) or a sound is more important than understanding what\u2019s going on. Once established that – and the movie does it from the very first sequence – you just need to enjoy this ride made of gentleness and emotion.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Zi<\/p>\n

@Courtesy of Sundance Film Festival<\/span><\/p>\n

We are not that far from the idea of cinema that Wong Kar-Wai has developed through admirable movies like Hong-Kong Express<\/strong>, Happy Together<\/strong> or In the Mood For Love<\/strong>: Koganada looks definitely in that direction, trying to create something maybe less curated aesthetically but more immediate, tangible, closer to the skin of his actors. The cast fully delivers this idea with simplicity and power: it is absolutely fascinating to experience acting together Michelle Mao and Haley Lou Richardson, creating two almost opposite body languages, different personalities that get along amazingly during the movie. Their chemistry is in the end what makes Zi<\/strong> a feature film that works on many levels.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Science-fiction has been exploited many times all over these decades in order to talk about issues related to our contemporary world. Instead of a cold, intellectual approach to this genre, Kogonada has chosen to build image after image, scene after scene, an emotional puzzle that in more than one moment results to be quite hypnotic. Zi<\/strong> is a movie where every aspect of its craft is connected in order to create a coherent result. <\/span><\/p>\n

The editing by the same Kogonada and the cinematography by Benjamin Loeb (Dream Scenario<\/strong>, Pieces of a Woman<\/strong>) in particular work admirably together in order to endorse the director\u2019s vision. Once again, it must be reiterated that such an enchanting result could not have been accomplished without the level of chemistry that the cast shows. Haley Lou Richardson delivers a sweet, energetic performance which in the end is the fuel that makes the engine of the movie fully work. Next to her Michelle Mao beautifully crafts the confusion and the fragility of her role. You can\u2019t escape from rooting for these two young women, feeling the humanity and warmth of their friendship.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Zi<\/strong> is not a feature film that must be approached in an intellectual way. It is on the contrary an emotional, in some ways spiritual journey directed toward the research of connection between two lost souls. It talks about simple, primal feelings through a cinematic labyrinth that is totally worth experiencing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Zi<\/p>\n

@Courtesy of Sundance Film Festival<\/span><\/p>\n

Rate: B<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you like the review, share your thoughts below!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Check out more of Adriano\u2019s articles.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/ins>\u00a0

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

@Courtesy of Sundance Film Festival In order to fully appreciate this new movie directed by Kogonada, you must understand that Zi is so far the most personal and likely free project he has realized. After Columbus, After Yang and A Big Bold Beautiful Journey, the director has in fact decided to lose even more from…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3044,"featured_media":33430,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[29713,7442,6592,29712,1204,29530,2235,29711],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSundance Film Festival: Echoes of Wong Kar-Wai in moving Zi by Kogonada | Cinema Daily US<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Zi : In Hong Kong, a young woman haunted by visions of her future self meets a stranger who changes the course of her night-and possibly her life.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=33417\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" 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Critics Choice Association member. Graduated in History of Cinema in Rome, he works as a freelance correspondent for some of the most important Italian outlets like Hollywood Reporter Italy, Comingsoon.it, Cinefilos.it and Ciak Magazine. He started working as a film critic almost thirty years ago: in his career he attended the most important Film Festivals (Cannes, Venice, Berlin, Toronto, New York Film Festival, Tribeca) and conventions (San Diego Comic-Con, New York Comic-Con, Disney D23). All over the years he has interviewed some of the most important contemporary authors like Michael Mann, Martin Scorsese, Clint Eastwood, Peter Jackson, Alexander Payne, Joel and Ethan Coen, Kathryn Bigelow, Christopher Nolan, Greta Gerwig, Jane Campion). In 2009 he interviewed Christiane Kubrick and Ian Harlan inside Stanley Kubrick\u2019s private office. Other than movies he is fond of American literature and basketball. Los Angeles Lakers fanatic. 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