So Close, So Far

Zhu Yudi’s almost painfully riveting debut feature chronicles the life of a gambler—the filmmaker’s own father—as he casts his family into spiraling debt with each new “can’t fail” investment in Chinese building construction. Zhu’s documentary project holds the promise of forgiveness and reconciliation, but as his father’s estrangement from his wife and sons grows increasingly acrimonious and desperate, one is left wondering about the countless other families who have become casualties of China’s real estate bubble.