“Some rain must fall”, interview with director Qiu Yang

February 27, 2024

Qiu Yang: “The story is about Cai, a middle-class, full-time housewife and mother. One person who inspired me the most about this character would be my own mother”

“Some rain must fall”, interview with director Qiu Yang Chiara Nicoletti

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“The story is about Cai, a middle-class, full-time housewife and mother. She allowed me to see stories I have personally lived. All those stories that everybody knows but nobody talks about”. These are the words of Chinese director Qiu Yang describing his debut feature film, “Some rain must fall“, competing in the Encounters section at the 74th Berlinale.

The director, who was awarded the Short Film Palme d’Or at the 70th Cannes film Festival with “A Gentle Night“, admits that he based the protagonist character on his mum, a traditional woman, a so-called “Chinese parent” as he writes in his press notes.

Yang elaborates on how the film doesn’t have a specific plot bur relies on narrating the everyday of this woman with an accident to stir up her life, something the director created in the script in order to allow the camera to follow her and observe her life.

Plot

40-year-old housewife Cai has lost track of who she is and who she wants to be. During one of her daughter’s basketball matches, she inadvertently injures an elderly woman. This seemingly trivial event is a catalyst for a life spinning out of control, as past events resurface while she moves into an unknown future.

Written by: Chiara Nicoletti

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The great yawn of history”