Fan Bingbing Sparks Carnal Desire in Invalid Father-in-Law in Wayne Wang’s ‘Diary of a Mad Old Man’ (Exclusive Toronto Clip)
Director Wayne Wang's new film "Diary of a Mad Old Man", starring Fan Bingbing and Lily Franky, is set to have its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, with a newly released exclusive clip showing its provocative central dynamic. The film adapts Jun'ichirō Tanizaki's classic Japanese novel about a stroke-afflicted elderly patriarch whose physical decline is matched by an undimmed libido, and marks a return by Wang to themes of desire and psychological tension explored in his earlier work.
Franky plays 69-year-old widower Utsugi, who suffers from failing health after a stroke and relies on his daughter-in-law Susu, played by Fan, for care; the clip shows him interpreting her innocuous comments as sexual invitations, which he records in a private diary. Wang, now in his late seventies, said he identifies with Tanizaki's own struggle between "eros and the will to live" after writing the novel following his own stroke. The film, sold internationally by Beijing's Rediance Films, will also screen at Busan, and Fan is separately due to receive a Special Tribute Award at TIFF, which runs from 10 to 20 September.
In short
- Wayne Wang's "Diary of a Mad Old Man" premieres at Toronto Film Festival
- Adapts Tanizaki novel about an ailing patriarch's persistent desire
- Fan Bingbing also receiving TIFF's Special Tribute Award
Explained simply
Diary of a Mad Old Man is based on a Japanese novel by Jun’ichirō Tanizaki. It centres on Utsugi, an elderly widower whose health has declined after a stroke and who depends on his daughter-in-law, Susu, for care.
Lily Franky plays Utsugi and Fan Bingbing plays Susu. As Utsugi records his thoughts in a diary, he reads sexual meaning into Susu’s ordinary remarks, bringing desire and vulnerability into their family relationship.
The story’s tension comes from the gap between Utsugi’s physical frailty and his continuing sexual desire. Director Wayne Wang has said he relates to Tanizaki’s exploration of desire and the will to live after experiencing a stroke himself.