Lan’s Garden is about aging. Lan was once a proud matriarch who defined herself by her ability to care for her children. Now, the direction of care has been reversed: Lan’s children must come to take care of her and fix what she breaks. Lan is neither sick nor injured, and there is no dramatic plot point that leads to her downfall; she is simply growing old. If she suffers, it is only at the consequence of her own actions as she resists her gradual loss of agency. Every character in this film is a sympathetic one, and we take turns seeing Lan through each one’s eyes: the concerned daughter, the devoted son-in-law, the curious grandson. And then we are left with Lan, alone in her world.
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Jennifer Ru Zhou
