Culture news and discussion on TalkFuse.
A College Student and His Grieving Dorm Manager Share a Forbidden Bond in Tokyo Competition Title ‘The Night That Binds Us’
Chinese director Wang Jiangyong’s debut feature, *The Night That Binds Us*, premiered in competition at the Tokyo International Film Festival. Adapted from a short story by award-winning writer Zhang Chu, it follows a college student unsettled by his parents’ arrest and a grieving dormitory manager, whose guarded connection explores loneliness and the possibility of human closeness.
Wang expands the story to include the student’s girlfriend and roommate, using the dormitory, Shanghai’s rainy season and the characters’ positions in the frame to reflect their inner lives. He says the relationship is not intended as a romance, and the film’s restrained long takes leave viewers to interpret it for themselves. The Hong Kong-France co-production took nearly a decade to complete: filming lasted 28 days in 2023, while editing continued for three years and went through dozens of versions.
In short
- Wang Jiangyong’s debut premiered in competition in Tokyo.
- The film explores loneliness through a guarded connection.
- Its 28-day shoot was followed by three years of editing.
Explained simply
The film is the first feature by Chinese director Wang Jiangyong and is based on a short story by award-winning writer Zhang Chu. It centres on a university student whose parents have been arrested and a dormitory manager coping with grief.
The student’s girlfriend and roommate also shape the story, which uses the shared living space and the characters’ interactions to explore loneliness and human connection. Wang has said the bond between the student and manager is not meant as a romance.
The film is a Hong Kong-France co-production, made over nearly a decade. Its competition screening at the Tokyo International Film Festival places the debut before an international audience.