“In the Garden” by Yin Xueqing

It is a cinema that reflects on itself, that of Xueqing Yin. Her documentary “In the Garden” takes us inside the monumental Chinese show machine and sheds light on its smaller and, at the same time, vital components. The film, despite being a documentary on the Chinese film industry, does not fail to highlight with irony and delicacy the various human nuances that we encounter in this short journey. Yin’s documentary approach is calm, discreet. The daily reality of Chinese background actors is observed from a distance that immerses them in their context. But sheltered from the action, the intuition and elegance of the director explode and the result is refined and sincere.

A mosaic of significant scenes is intertwined in an evocative story in which the protagonists are men and women who become actors in front of other cameras. Yin’s lens therefore illuminates the real aspect behind the illusion of cinema, not without a touch of lightness and sagacity. The balanced distribution between interviews and silences is absolutely fascinating, capable of creating a flow of sounds and images that is expressed with the sole force of reality.