Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains

Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains (春江水暖, 2020) is a Chinese drama by Gu Xiaogang you can watch online on iFILM. His debut feature unfolds across four seasons in Fuyang, a town on the banks of the Fuchun River.

The story follows one sprawling family: four grown brothers, their wives and children, and an aging matriarch who suffers a stroke. Everyone carries a different weight. One runs a restaurant, one drowns in debt, one tries to marry off a daughter who wants no part of it. Money troubles, illness, a romance the elders won't bless — it all drifts past like the river itself. Gu shoots in long, patient takes; at one point the camera simply floats along the water for minutes, turning daily routine into a moving scroll painting.

The film openly echoes Huang Gongwang's 14th-century scroll of the same name, and it made Gu a name to watch after premiering at Cannes Critics' Week. This is slow, contemplative cinema for viewers willing to give it two and a half unhurried hours. Stream Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains (2020) online on iFILM.