‘Fuxi: Four Tales of Feasting’ Review: Qiu Jiongjiong Returns With a Sensory Banquet
Qiu Jiongjiong’s “Fuxi: Four Tales of Feasting” is an anthology film built around food, ritual and community, premiering in competition at Tokyo. Its theatrical sets, painted backdrops and practical effects offer a vivid sensory experience, though the review finds it less thematically rich than Qiu’s debut, “A New Old Play”.
The four chapters move through folklore and history, with actors including Lee Kang-sheng playing multiple roles. They feature a prehistoric burial rite involving a communal soup, a legendary king who returns annually to taste his subjects’ offerings, and spirits gathering in a stylised 1997 to recall the life of Song dynasty poet Su Dongpo. Sichuan cuisine and cooking details recur throughout, while the film shifts between myth and recorded history.
In short
- Qiu returns with a theatrical, food-centred anthology.
- Four chapters mix Sichuan cuisine, folklore and history.
- The film delights the senses but offers less thematic depth than his debut.
Explained simply
Qiu Jiongjiong is a Chinese filmmaker whose work draws on folklore, history and theatrical imagery. His earlier film, A New Old Play, established a point of comparison for this new anthology, which is made up of four stories linked by food, ritual and community.
The chapters range from a prehistoric burial rite and a legendary king’s annual visit to a gathering of spirits in 1997, where they recall the poet Su Dongpo. Actor Lee Kang-sheng appears in several roles, and Sichuan cooking recurs across the stories. The film moves between myth and recorded history, using stylised sets and painted backdrops to create its world.
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