Composed entirely of found footage and presented in black and white to lend visual consistency, the film raises important questions about the politics of viewership, the documentary form’s complex ties to reality and about human relationships in a digitally connected world.
Present.Perfect.(完美現在時)
✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ Read critic reviews
China, Hong Kong, United States · 2017
2h 4m
Director Zhu Shengze
Starring
Genre Documentary
Add to Watchlist
Please login to add films to your watchlist.
PRESENT.PERFECT. weaves together a diverse range of moments and occurrences filmed and broadcasted by a dozen of little-known Chinese live-streaming anchors from various parts of China, including a street dancer, a tower crane operator, a man with Idiopathic Short Stature, a girl with Muscular Dystrophy, a poor farmer, a young single mother, a middle-aged crossdresser, and among others.
We hate to say it, but we can't find anywhere to view this film.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
The Film Stage by Leonardo Goi
Zhu Shengze’s poignant Present.Perfect. follows a dozen anchors over a period of ten months. It distills some 800 hours of live footage into a 124-minute documentary–a black-and-white collage stirring questions that far transcend the country and the zeitgeist it captures.
The Hollywood Reporter by Neil Young
Punctuated with moments of illumination, humor and even occasional visual flair —the opening shot executes a stately 360-degree cityscape pan from a high crane — Present. Perfect manages to retain interest despite a certain repetitiveness and some patience-taxing longueurs.
The Guardian by Peter Bradshaw
This is a film in touch with modernity, but I wonder if the livestreamers were quite as apolitical as this film makes them appear. And I was unsure about Zhu’s decision to correct all the images from colour to black-and-white, an arthouse-ification that the film didn’t need.
What the film depicts is at times creepy and unsettling, but it lifts the lid on an aspect of the virtual world which may be unfamiliar to audiences in the west.
Users who liked this film also liked
Juliet of the Spirits
(Giulietta degli spiriti)
The inhibitions... the desires... the obsessions... of a jealous woman held prisoner by her own dreams
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Italy, France • 1965
- Director Federico Fellini
- Cast Giulietta Masina, Sandra Milo, Mario Pisu, Valentina Cortese, Valeska Gert, José Luis de Villalonga
- Genre Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
- Available on Criterion Channel, Max Amazon Channel, Max, Amazon Video
U.F.O.
Try to remain calm
- ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom • 2012
- Director Dominic Burns
- Cast Bianca Bree, Sean Brosnan, Simon Phillips, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Peter Barrett, Joey Ansah
- Genre Action, Adventure, Science Fiction, Horror, Comedy
- Available on Amazon Prime Video, History Vault, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Freevee
Deseo
- ✭ ✭
- Mexico • 2013
- Director Antonio Zavala Kugler
- Cast Edith González, Christian Bach, Paola Nuñez, Paulina Gaitán, Leonor Varela, Lila Downs
- Genre Drama
- Available on No streaming locations found.
The World to Come
In 19th century America, two women bound to unhappy marriages find intimacy and consolation in each other's company.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- United States • 2021
- Director Mona Fastvold
- Cast Katherine Waterston, Casey Affleck, Vanessa Kirby, Christopher Abbott, Kim Ciobanu, Daniel Blumberg
- Genre Drama, Romance, Western
- Available on Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, AMC on Demand, Hoopla
Detective vs. Sleuths
(神探大戰)
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Hong Kong, China • 2022
- Director Wai Ka-fai
- Cast Lau Ching-wan, Raymond Lam, Charlene Choi, Tan Kai, Carman Lee, Carlos Chan
- Genre Action, Crime, Mystery, Thriller
- Available on Rakuten Viki
The Third Wife
In 19th-century rural Vietnam, 14-year-old May becomes the third wife of wealthy landowner.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Vietnam • 2019
- Director Ash Mayfair
- Cast Nguyễn Phương Trà My, Trần Nữ Yên Khê, Lê Vũ Long, Mai Thu Hường, Như Quỳnh
- Genre Drama
- Available on Apple TV, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Tubi TV, The Roku Channel, Kanopy, Hoopla, Plex, Plex Channel
On Our Watch
(E noi come stronzi rimanemmo a guardare)
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Italy • 2021
- Director Pif
- Cast Fabio De Luigi, Ilenia Pastorelli, Pif, Valeria Solarino, Maurizio Marchetti, Eamon Farren
- Genre Comedy
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Viking Wolf
(Vikingulven)
A teenage girl becomes the focal point of an investigation into brutal and savage killings.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Norway • 2022
- Director Stig Svendsen
- Cast Elli Rhiannon Müller Osborne, Liv Mjönes, Vidar Magnussen, Mia Fosshaug Laubacher, Arthur Hakalahti, Sjur Vatne Brean
- Genre Horror, Mystery, Thriller
- Available on Netflix, Netflix basic with Ads
Infiltration
(Своя война. Шторм в пустыне)
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Russia • 2022
- Director Aleksey Chadov
- Cast Aleksey Chadov, Kristina Asmus, Viktor Sukhorukov, Artyom Tkachenko, Vitaly Kishchenko, Djalil Asretov
- Genre War, Drama
- Available on Apple TV, Fandango At Home, YouTube
Ripper Untold
No one is safe
- ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom • 2021
- Director Steven Lawson
- Cast Jonathan Hansler, Phil Molloy, Dawn Butler, Chris Bell, Sylvia Robson, Barry Shannon
- Genre Horror
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Tubi TV, VUDU Free, Freevee, Plex, Plex Channel
Fullmetal Alchemist: The Revenge of Scar
(鋼の錬金術師 完結編 復讐者スカー)
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 2022
- Director Fumihiko Sori
- Cast Ryosuke Yamada, Atomu Mizuishi, Tsubasa Honda, Dean Fujioka, Jun Fubuki, Naohito Fujiki
- Genre Fantasy, Action, Adventure
- Available on Netflix, Netflix basic with Ads