a review of 老无所惧

first. absolutely exquisite worship of light and lens and cinematography. impeccable selection of filming locations. i don't think i've ever seen something like this, and maybe nothing else like it exists. first two episodes are among the most compelling cinema i've seen, and it mostly maintains from there. the last couple episodes lose their way a little, but not horrifically so. this is giving strong lynch vibes, but if lynch had even just one shred of sanity (not that sanity is all that important, but still), cared about the importance of lighting in creating breathtaking cinematography, and wasn't utterly bizarre just for the sake of being utterly bizarre. then if he made a thirteen hour movie about power and the nature of good and evil. this is absolutely more subtle than social critique this scathing usually comes across, and i also yearn for it to be even more subtle. i think the writers should have been able to tell this story without the (admittedly minimal) cheesy camp and the abundance of overt pedophilia and incest material. ultimately, this is brilliant. a scorching critique of western civilization. brilliant acting. brilliant writing. fascinating characters. kinda unparalleled lighting and cinematography. i'm obsessed and will almost certainly watch all thirteen hours again someday.