Cities of Last Things
By Brian Costello,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Sex, violence, suicide in thoughtful noir drama.
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What's the Story?
In reverse chronology, CITIES OF LAST THINGS traces the life of Dong-ling Zhang, a former cop who in the year 2049 works as a construction site security guard, through three traumatic life events. At the end of his life, Dong-ling is hired to kill a government minister, meets a prostitute who is a Doppelganger of a former lover, and remains resentful over his wife's infidelities from thirty years ago, yet stays married to her out of a stated desire to have a "normal family" for his young adult daughter. In the next act, Dong-ling is a cop in 2019 who catches his wife cheating on him, then finds solace in the arms of a French woman he had previously arrested for shoplifting. In the final act, Dong-ling is a troubled teenager who has just been arrested, and waiting to go to jail while sitting next to "Big Sis" Wang, a notorious local gangster who he initially finds insufferable, until Wang reveals a shocking truth to him.
Is It Any Good?
This film is a fascinating, surprising, and often beautiful (in spite of the shocking violence) character study of the traumatic events in one man's life. These traumatic events, told in three acts of reverse chronology, with a brief epilogue, shape, uplift, knock down, then ultimately break this man. We meet Dong-ling Zhang at the end of his life, and try to make sense of his violent tendencies, his jealousies and resentments, his loneliness and hallucinations. As his past his revealed in subsequent acts, we begin to understand how he turned out the way he did, even if we're left to wonder if the man's complexities and predilection for violent behavior is entirely the result of these events.
Cities of Last Things is an excellent movie, but not perfect. There are moments, like the film's opening scene, that feel more than a little heavy-handed and gratuitous. Despite these moments, the movie on the whole strikes an incredible balance between beautiful cinematography and the ugliness of these terrible life moments. The acting is fantastic across the board. It's one of those movies that leaves you thinking about it for days after, about what it's saying about human nature, fate, environment, upbringing, and personal choices, right and wrong.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the movie's themes. What does Cities of Last Things suggest about traumatic events, violence, family history, the future?
The movie's story moves in reverse chronology. Why do you think the filmmaker's made that decision? How would the movie be different had it been presented in a forward and linear manner?
Was the sex and violence necessary for the story, or did it seem like gratuitous attempts at keeping the audience's attention?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming: July 11, 2019
- Cast: Lu Huang , Hong-Chee Lee , Linda Jui-Chi Liu
- Director: Wi Ding Ho
- Studio: Netflix
- Genre: Drama
- Run time: 107 minutes
- MPAA rating: NR
- Last updated: February 18, 2023
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