The Dusk of Tehran

Mongolism is among Tao Hui's very early films, produced when the artist was still in art school at the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute in Chongqing. The characters of Tao Hui's early films are loosely based on popular costume dramas from 1990s Chinese television. Shot in brilliant color, the film follows a young protagonist clad in bright green historical costume. Yet from the beginning, narrative levels are interwoven as a contemporary figure is shown putting on make-up and dressing up. Except for one line, there is no dialogue, only ambient noises: dripping of water, animal sounds, singing, and the percussive rhythms of the marching band's playing.

Seven scenes selected from the countless scenarios in the director's notebooks, including a group of ethnic minority girls in a spoil pit in the rain, a reporter interviewing a corpse, and a deity sailing on the river. An exhausted narrator retells her life's story. Fleeing her small village for the city, the young woman, in spite of her tenacity, gradually grows nostalgic. A torrid love affair with her music student results in one child and a failed marriage. Unable to bear the consequences, she ends her life on the banks of a river.

Imitating the narrative flows of a reality show, Tao creates a fictional scene of mediation, presenting a Chinese family’s complex relationship dynamics. As the plot unfolds, Tao highlights the touchy feelings and melodramatic relationships between the scene’s women. The tension between characters, as well as the film’s final chaotic climax, continuously explore character roles and their performativity. Tao recreates scenes from the night of the shoot and invites the audience to join and watch it “live,” thereby creating a passage from reality into this fictional world.