Synopsis
Raw and intimate, this documentary captures the struggles of patients and frontline medical professionals battling the COVID-19 pandemic in Wuhan.
2020 Directed by Hao Wu, Weixi Chen
Raw and intimate, this documentary captures the struggles of patients and frontline medical professionals battling the COVID-19 pandemic in Wuhan.
A medical worker in a hazmat suit wails in pain as her father’s body is wheeled towards the morgue; her colleagues at the exhausted hospital plead with her to “control herself” because they desperately need her to keep working. A door handle jiggles down the hallway as a horde of desperate people try to force their way inside. A plastic box labeled “ID cards and phones of the dead” rattles with ghosts that have yet to depart. A woman cries as she’s prepared for a C-section, begging the hospital staff to let her husband come and sit by her side, but the COVID threat makes it impossible to honor such a request. “Don’t worry,” one of the nurses offers. “So…
AFI 2020: film #4
“let’s not panic, ok?”
perhaps too potent a viewing in 2020, but expertly made and often so emotional. the bare essence of this is people taking care of people, and that sole theme makes this feel almost comforting despite all the trauma
What struck me most about this film was the contrast between Chinese collectivism and American individualism.
76 DAYS may be too recent for people to grapple with emotionally but this grave documentary about the lockdown in Wuhan, China during the outbreak of COVID-19 is an important historical document - one that salutes the bravery of medical workers. Brutal, humane and very well shot.
76 Days is a heartbreaking and poignant visual document written, co-directed and edited by Hao Wu that portrays the initial days of the COVID-19 outbreak. Told from the corridors and emergency rooms of several overrun hospitals, it provides a penetrating exposé that apprehends both the struggles of frontline medical professionals and the increasing incapacity of victims that gradually gave shape to the pandemic's severity; first detected in Wuhan, China.
Observing the courageous medical staff struggling to make sense of the unrelenting virus creates a tragic portrait as they jump through hoops in caring for the patients flooding into the hospitals, causing critical bed shortages. Of course, it doesn't elaborate on the background of the virus; hopefully, that information will emerge…
In many respects, 76 Days is the scariest film of the year. Shot during the, what was at the time COVID-19 epidemic, we witness in real-time the initial outbreak in Wuhan.
This is an important document because the world's general response to China as a nation in the wake of the wider pandemic, has unfortunately been reduced to silly soundbites like a former moronic president dubbing it the "China Virus" or the stories of one man's winged delicacy.
But behind the redundant headlines was a very real and very scary outbreak. The first three minutes alone outline the devastation caused.
The documentary picks up with a small group of doctors and nurses as they admit the first patients into the…
Gotta ship in some moron relative you keep on Facebook to reassure everyone it's just a flu. Nightmare movie, staff shown are saints.
Obviously difficult to watch while we're still in the midst of the pandemic, but certainly a more appropriate and valuable piece of content than the million scripted projects in development that no one will want to see. It's harrowing and inspiring in equal measure, taking us directly to the front lines as we watch doctors and nurses literally in the process of saving lives. It can get repetitive from a filmmaking standpoint, but the opening and closing sequences are particularly shattering, made all the more infuriating knowing America has no respect for the people portrayed in this film.
GRADE: B
☆"You're a Communist! Don't cry!"☆
Stirring and excruciatingly tense, directors by Hao Wu and Weixi Chen -- and a third filmmaker who chose to remain anonymous -- bring the horrific story of the early days of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China during the unprecedented lockdown of the city in 76 Days. Today, January 23rd, is the one-year anniversary of the start of this event, and to commemorate it the film is available at no cost.
In the brief period of chaos when government control of the media wasn't as strong, as the epidemic began to rage and with little known about its spread, filmmakers found access to some of the hardest hit hospitals in Wuhan and to the patients being taken…
64/100
A.V. Club review. My kind of fully immersive, present-tense doc, though the fact that it gets less harrowing and intense as it goes along (the opening 10 minutes in particular are tough to watch) makes for an atypical viewing experience.
A very interesting documentary that I never want to watch again. Often sad and hard to watch, but these medical workers risked their lives and well-being and did everything they could to help all those patients and that left me with hope. The world is so negative and toxic right now and I needed to be reminded that there's still people out there who care about others and want to help.
Comes recommended from me, but I especially want to recommend this to the idiots out there who still aren't taking COVID seriously. Hopefully this will make you turn on your brain.
Up-close look inside Wuhan hospitals during the city’s seventy-six day lockdown for coronavirus, shot in a vérité fashion without any talking heads or narration. In contrast to the eerily quiet and empty streets, the hospitals are a flurry of activity as overstretched but dedicated healthcare workers hustle to save as many patients as they can. The opening scene had me bracing for a harrowing ninety minutes, but while the suffering on display is devastating, moments of tenderness and compassion offer hope and relief.