Ji Huang and Ryuji Otsuka, a directing partnership, have secured a seat in the year 2023’s roster with a film that burns like a tea candle: slowly, with little regard for its own flame. This movie, “Stonewalling,” is not about the director putting themselves up there. It doesn’t take pride in its superiority as an aesthetic or intellectual achievement or as an effective tool. Their contemplation is quiet and understated.”Stonewalling” follows 20-year-old flight attendant trainee Lynn (Honggui Yao) as she deals with an unexpected pregnancy in the context of a relationship and society that see her as a project and a pawn. The shadow of China’s overturned one-child policy in 2016 (three years before the film’s time period) lingers over the country like the long arm of a puppet master.
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Though the policy’s sway may be waning, it is nonetheless felt across the country as individuals take on the burden of independence and as the very definition of a family is reshaped. Lynn is now enrolled in school but shows little enthusiasm for learning. Her boyfriend foots the bill for her English lessons, but she has little interest in pursuing them. She goes to parties, but her stalking behaviour from the fringes leads her to eventually abandon the event. Because she seldom does anything than sit, look, scroll, and mumble, we know very little about her. But, Lynn is forced to face the unknown, so she decides to get an abortion before telling her partner, even while she continues her pregnancy and considers her postpartum alternatives. Lynn’s motivational yet intentionally mistaken phantom of a purpose begins to shape during her pregnancy. The picture is dominated by a sense of calmness. Lynn’s world is portrayed with little camera movement. Rather than traversing China, we are leaping from one static scene to the next.
Lynn’s inconspicuous existence is further pounded home by the fact that the camera stays still, creating an eerie sensation of distancing.
There isn’t a single setting in the picture that doesn’t have some bearing on Lynn’s mood, from the darkest alleys to the brightest convention centres. She is confined to the edges of the screen, while her surroundings and the other characters receive more visual emphasis. Yet, she draws attention to herself because of her introversion, becoming a focal point much as a bruise would be to a photograph. The beautiful cinematography is what first draws the viewer in, but Honggui Yao’s acting is what keeps them hooked throughout the film. Being an embodiment of Lynn, she exemplifies greatness with a grounded approach. There are no big dramatic moments or spectacular demonstrations of passion in her portrayal.
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Lynn is subdued and slow to act, and Yao’s shyness and doggedness make for an utterly sympathetic character. Lynn seems desperate, yet she also exudes a calm strength as she goes about her day. She’s not a whimpering wimp. Lynn faces headwind as she climbs the hill, but she continues her journey nonetheless, and Yao expertly personifies these tiers, frequently without ever saying a word. Yao’s multifaceted performance in the film is bolstered by the script. The script’s constraint is ultimately its strength, as it carves a character with a real background, even if that history is an assumption. Instead of being a list of traits spoon-fed to the audience, “Stonewalling” is a cinematic leap into real life. Lynn is not given a detailed background or a long series of preambles. Yao’s performance launches the film from a point of everyday genuineness and mundanity and then continues without pausing to answer any issues that may arise. An unplanned pregnancy might feel like a death sentence for a young woman living in a society that evaluates her worth depending on how close she is to males and how easily she sways from their standards.
As the story progresses, we see Lynn fall into the trap of letting her gender dictate who she is and what she does with her life. Stonewalling depicts the social trappings of commodified women, including but not limited to: being attractive enough to work as a receptionist for a wealthy guy; selling one’s eggs; and even the pregnancy itself. Stonewalling is an emotionally resonant, methodically paced character story that explores the political and personal stagnation of women. While we worry for Lynn and want her to recover her strength, the film creates a compelling, emotional feeling of suspense. Stonewalling captures the urgency of the subject of what it means to be a young woman in contemporary China, as seen through the lens of breaking down social and economic boundaries. As “Stonewalling” steers Lynn’s life, she becomes an approachable figure who seems lived-in, honest, and known, and this raises issues about the points at which femininity and the weariness of immobility reach a head.
The film is now showing in cinemas.