An actor becomes increasingly introverted and psychotic and his entire family attempts to intervene.
Acting
Jia Hongsheng plays himself—months after his actual psychotic break.
Direction
Zhang Yang convinced a real family to dissect their trauma on camera.
Writing
Blurred fiction/reality so aggressively the cast needed therapy after.
Director
Zhang Yang
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Jia Hongsheng had genuinely quit acting for two years before this; his Beatles obsession and marijuana psychosis were real documented events.
In 2001 China, public discussion of mental illness was virtually taboo—this film essentially outed an entire family's private shame nationally.
CN
