An Elephant Sitting Still
Across one bleak day in northern China, four troubled people cling to the rumor of a motionless elephant as a last possibility of escape.
Overview
A haunting exploration of despair and longing in a world indifferent to suffering.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Glacial
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Moderate
- bleak
- melancholic
- philosophical
- focused arthouse viewing
- quiet winter evening
What critics said
Critics broadly regard Hu Bo’s debut as an uncompromising, visually bold, and deeply poignant portrait of despair and social inequality in modern China.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The nearly four-hour runtime and virtuoso compositions follow characters across one suspenseful day with sustained visual duration.
Bu, Ling, Cheng, and Mr. Wang pursue separate forms of escape while their fates become bound together in Manzhouli.
Bullying, family abandonment, inequality, failed institutions, and limited opportunities shape the characters’ downward spirals.
Critics repeatedly identify the film’s grey visual atmosphere as central to its portrait of modern Chinese despair.
Films like An Elephant Sitting Still, and why
Werckmeister Harmonies
shared slow cinema form, bleak social realism, philosophical despair, and long takes
Nostalgia for the Light
shared austere pacing, interconnected alienated characters, and uncompromising portrait of social collapse
The Turin Horse
shared melancholic ensemble structure, urban alienation, and intimate sociopolitical critique
The White Ribbon
shared bleak contemporary realism, moral exhaustion, and emotionally restrained human portraiture
Movie Details
- Director
- Hu Bo
- Release Date
- 2018-12-14
- Runtime
- 230 min
- Rating
- 7.7 / 10 (244)
Cast
- Peng Yuchang
- Wang Yuwen
- Zhang Yu
- Li Congxi
- Zhenghui Ling
- Xiaolong Zhang
- Li Danyi
- Kong Wei
- Kong Yixin
- Wang Chaobei
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Fandor, OVID, AsianCrush
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is An Elephant Sitting Still about?
- Across one bleak day in northern China, four troubled people cling to the rumor of a motionless elephant as a last possibility of escape.
- What is An Elephant Sitting Still like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of An Elephant Sitting Still as glacial, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is An Elephant Sitting Still violent?
- Somewhat. Ember rates the violence in An Elephant Sitting Still as moderate.
- What did critics think of An Elephant Sitting Still?
- Critics broadly regard Hu Bo’s debut as an uncompromising, visually bold, and deeply poignant portrait of despair and social inequality in modern China.
- Which films are like An Elephant Sitting Still?
- Films with a similar feel include Werckmeister Harmonies, Nostalgia for the Light, The Turin Horse, and The White Ribbon.
- How long is An Elephant Sitting Still?
- An Elephant Sitting Still runs 230 minutes.
- Where can I watch An Elephant Sitting Still?
- In United States, An Elephant Sitting Still streams on Fandor, OVID, AsianCrush.
