Entertainment · Film · 1 day ago
‘The First Taste of Loneliness’ explores a family’s life after bereavement
The First Taste of Loneliness is a film by Gu You about a family in Hangzhou, a city in southeast China.
After the husband and father dies following a long battle with pancreatic cancer, his wife Luna, daughter Yue and teenage granddaughter Moon face life without him.
Yue has returned to the family apartment with Moon after a divorce, while also adjusting to changes in her career and relationships.
Luna encourages Yue to move forward and begins to consider a new relationship herself.
Moon struggles at school as she approaches adulthood, and Yue must give her more room to make her own choices.
The film explores how grief can exist alongside relief and the need to carry on, while family members keep the dead man’s memory present in their lives.
It premiered in the main competition at the Busan Film Festival and is the final film in Gu’s “Landscape” trilogy.
“The First Taste of Loneliness” follows three generations of women adjusting to life after the death of a husband, father and grandfather.
The film centers on Yue, her mother Luna and Yue’s teenage daughter Moon as they navigate grief and change.
Yue returns with Moon to the family apartment in Hangzhou after her divorce.
Luna considers a new relationship, while Moon begins making her own decisions as she approaches adulthood.
The film is directed by Gu You and premiered in the main competition at the Busan Film Festival.
- Who
- Yue, her mother Luna and her daughter Moon.
- What
- The film portrays the women’s lives after the death of Yue’s father and Luna’s husband.
- When
- It premiered at the Busan Film Festival; a premiere date is not stated.
- Where
- The story is set in Hangzhou, China.
- Why
- The women are adapting to bereavement and changes in their family and personal lives.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
The First Taste of Loneliness is best when focused on such small but important everyday details.
Yue’s father dies after a longtime battle with pancreatic cancer.
Yue opens the final jar of her father’s homemade pickles and tastes them.
Yue, Luna and Moon face changes in their lives and relationships.
The film premieres in the festival’s main competition.
- Director
- Gu You
- Main characters
- Yue, Luna and Moon
- Setting
- Hangzhou, China
- Father’s illness
- Pancreatic cancer
- Festival premiere
- Busan Film Festival, main competition











