Li Yan
Philippe Parreno
Cinematography by Darius Khondji.
Li Yan depicts a city suspended between day and night, in the liminal hour that is dusk or dawn. Descending through the clouds, the camera enters an uncannily vacant city. Then we see a young woman walking alone through a park. The amplified sound implies a sense of movement through a series of fixed shots. These sounds, along with small disturbances in the environment, hint at an unseen, alien presence.
Shot on location in New York City, the film is a dream, or a series of memories, that incorporates images from several of Parreno’s earlier films: C.H.Z., Credits, and The Boy From Mars. Recalling another of Parreno’s New York films, the young woman playing Li Yan is the mother of the boy who features in the film Invisible Boy.