''One Second'' () is a 2020 Chinese

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

Zhang Yimou Zhang Yimou (; born 2 April 1950) is a Chinese film director, producer, writer, actor and former cinematographer.Tasker, Yvonne (2002). "Zhang Yimou" i''Fifty Contemporary Filmmakers'' Routledge Publishing, p. 412. . Google Book Search. Retriev ...

, about a man who escapes from a farm-prison during the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goal ...

. The film is based on the novel ''The Criminal Lu Yanshi'', by author

Geling Yan Geling Yan (; born 16 November 1958) is a Chinese-American author and screenwriter. Early life Yan was born in Shanghai, China in 1958. She is the second child of Yan Dunxun and Jia Lin. She has an elder brother Yan Geping (严歌平). Her fath ...

. Yan is not credited in the film, which has led to controversy.

Cast

* Zhang Yi as fugitive *

Liu Haocun Liu Haocun (; born ) is a Chinese actress. She made her acting debut in the drama film '' One Second'' (2020), and has since gone on to appear in various film titles. Early life Liu was born in Tonghua, Jilin Province. She studied in the middl ...

as orphan Liu * Fan Wei as Mr. Movie

Release

''One Second'' was released in Chinese theatres on 27 November 2020 (with previews on 26 November 2020). It was selected to compete for the

Golden Bear The Golden Bear (german: Goldener Bär) is the highest prize awarded for the best film at the Berlin International Film Festival. The bear is the heraldic animal of Berlin, featured on both the coat of arms and flag of Berlin. History The winn ...

at the

69th Berlin International Film Festival The 69th annual Berlin International Film Festival took place from 7 to 17 February 2019. French actress Juliette Binoche served as the Jury President. Lone Scherfig's drama film ''The Kindness of Strangers (film), The Kindness of Strangers'' op ...

, but was withdrawn shortly before the screening. The official explanation for the withdrawal is "technical difficulties encountered during post-production", but critics suspected politically motivated censorship. It would later screen as a gala presentation at the

2021 Toronto International Film Festival The 2021 Toronto International Film Festival, the 46th event in the Toronto International Film Festival series, was held from September 9 to 18, 2021.Barry Hertz"TIFF planning ‘substantially bigger’ 2021 film festival compared to last year’ ...

, with

Neon Neon is a chemical element with the symbol Ne and atomic number 10. It is a noble gas. Neon is a colorless, odorless, inert monatomic gas under standard conditions, with about two-thirds the density of air. It was discovered (along with krypton ...

acquiring the film's US distribution rights prior to the festival. After also screening at the 2021

Sydney Film Festival The Sydney Film Festival is an annual competitive film festival held in Sydney, Australia, usually over 12 days in June. A number of awards are given, the top one being the Sydney Film Prize. the festival's director is Nashen Moodley. Histo ...

, the film was released in Australia by Rialto Distribution on 20 January 2022.

Reception

Critical response

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

assigned the film a weighted average score of 79 out of 100, based on 4 critics, indicating "generaly favourable reviews".https://www.metacritic.com/movie/one-second?ftag=MCD-06-10aaa1c

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:One Second 2020 drama films 2020 films Chinese drama films 2020s Mandarin-language films Films about the Cultural Revolution Films about films Films directed by Zhang Yimou Films shot in Gansu