Yes, stories like this have been told before, but there’s an earnest, sweet charm to it all that really works.
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No matter how muddled it gets by the end, One Second also boasts something that even Zhang’s best movies haven’t always been afforded: A delicious and deeply layered sense of irony.
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One Second is as much a tribute to the struggles of a man whose life has stolen from him as it is to a bygone way of looking at movies.
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The Globe and Mail (Toronto) by Kate Taylor
Billed by the director as his tribute to cinema, One Second is affectionate and sweet – perhaps a bit too sweet, considering this premiere was much delayed after the film was held back by the Chinese government for supposed technical reasons in 2019.