Brief History of a Family

Writer and Director: Lin Jianjie

The title Brief History of a Family accords with a sense the characters in Lin Jianjie’s film are under observation by a third party who is developing plans for their future. The father figure in the film is a biologist regularly studying cells under the circular lens of a microscope. Jianjie shoots certain scenes in the film using the same circular motif as if to indicate the family are the subject of calculating analysis.

The idea of a ‘cuckoo in the nest’ infiltrating a wealthy family is not a new subject but the likes of Saltburn uses the concept for satirical purposes. Writer/ director Lin Jianjie does not openly criticise China’s strict one-child policy (which was rescinded in 2016) but rather demonstrates how it compelled parents to fear they had to invest all their hopes and dreams for the future in a single person who might not be able to fulfil their ambitions.

Typical of the detached atmosphere of the film only two of the characters have first names, the others being referred to by their familial or parental role. Teenager Tu Wei (Lin Muran) struggles under the weight of parental expectations. His father Mr Wei (Zu Feng) works for a medical equipment company and his mother Mrs Wei (Guo Keyu) is a retired flight attendant, both expect Tu Wei to excel academically but he prefers sports, specifically fencing. Tu Wei invites a fellow student Yan Shuo (Sun Xilun) home to play video games and is disturbed to discover his friend’s behaviour and attitude towards studying is more in accord with his parents’ preferences.

Yan Shuo gains sympathy when he reveals his father is an abusive alcoholic. He apparently shares Mr Wei’s enthusiasm for classical music and his interest in Mrs Wei’s activities and enthusiasms raises her self-esteem. Yan Shuo is virtually a mirror for Mr and Mrs Wei; reflecting their opinions particularly when he declares he sees nothing wrong in trying to improve oneself. When a tragedy makes Yan Shuo an orphan Mr and Mrs Wei discuss whether he might be their second chance to raise a child better able to fulfil their ambitions and, without consulting their birth son, they begin to consider adoption.

The concept of the Wei family being infiltrated by Yan Shuo is not expressed directly but reflected in subtle ways. As part of a scientific lecture Mr Wei describes the process by which an enzyme penetrates, and becomes part of, a cell without realising Yan Shuo has entered the family home in the same manner. Mr and Mrs Wei do not seem to recognise the significance of taking Yan Shuo on a short holiday and registering him in a hotel in the name of their birth son.

There is a creeping atmosphere of menace but little physical threat. The teenagers play fight duelling with umbrellas and show their increasing dislike of each other by silently arguing if a reading light should be turned on or off. Significantly, Tu Wei is the one who loses self-control and physically attacks Yan Shuo. Yet there is an undeniable air of danger in the scene where the soft-spoken Yan Shuo reveals he has worked out the strategy used by Tu Wei to ensure he always wins the games they play.

Yan Shuo is a wish-fulfilment figure for Mr and Mrs Wu so they do not challenge his version of events. It is only towards the conclusion that Tu Wei begins to express doubts (which the viewer has had for most of the film) as to whether Yan Shuo’s claims about his father and other events can be trusted.

Sun Xilun plays Yan Shuo as an enigmatic figure, his impassive face giving little indication of his emotions. The only point at which Yan Shuo reveals anything about his poverty-stricken background is when he is baffled by the range of food on offer at the Wei household having previously survived on boiled rice seasoned by soy sauce. Even when he requests this modest meal, he is daunted by the varieties of soy sauce presented.

Director Lin Jianjie sets an austere, clinical mood. The Wei household is coldly perfect and does not look lived-in. The twist at the conclusion results in the family fracturing and the closing scenes are, accordingly, filmed as short, broken images with the family’s reluctance to communicate captured in scant dialogue.

Brief History of a Family is a hard film to categorise. It serves as a cautionary tale warning that getting what one wishes for can be destructive as much as satisfying. The social comment and thriller aspects are understated and the generally subdued atmosphere makes for a film which is unsettling rather than jump out of your seat scary. The disorienting impact of the film remains long after its climax.

BriefHistoryof aFamilyis inUKcinemas21March.