Why Zhou Xun risked it all for that amazing long take in The First Taste of Loneliness

In The First Taste of Loneliness, one of the highest-profile Chinese art-house film debuts of 2026, three generations of women – played by Zhou Xun, Xi Meijuan and Wang Shengdi – struggle to put their lives back on track after the death of their family’s patriarch. This beautifully crafted family drama from Chinese writer-director Gu You (previously known as Gu Xiaogang) premiered in competition at the Busan International Film Festival in South Korea earlier this month. Zhou stars as Jiang Yue,...