The Ark

While the first reports of the Covid19 outbreak in Wuhan are heard on the news elsewhere in the country Zhang Xiuhuawho is suffering from a different diseaseis fighting for her life The doctors may have given up on her but her children and grandchildren havent and theyre doing everything possible to keep her with them for a little while longer We observe the family in restrained blackandwhite as they struggle with their mothers situation the economic consequences of the pandemic and each other Pride and opposing worldviews ultimately put a strain on relationships between the brothers and sistersbut they still dont budge from their mothers side Events within the family remain at the forefront but the viewer repeatedly picks up on moments from the Covid crisis and the restrictions arising from it In this way the film subtly interweaves a private crisis with a global emergency and shows their reciprocal effects on a human life at both micro and macro level