Cannes 2021: Director Yé Yé on ‘H6’

Chinese director Yé Yé’s first feature H6 (2021), premiered at a Special Screening of this year’s Cannes Film Festival. It’s a moving observation of life inside of a Chinese hospital, a work of genuine humanity, giving us a window into the everyday world of the Chinese people.

The humanity of the work cannot be expressed through words, it must be experienced. The images, sounds, and voices must be felt and heard, as we watch an elderly man, hobbling, miss his bus, a father sing to his daughter from the waiting room hallway, or we observe the simple devotion of a husband to his wife.

Following the premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in July, Yé Yé speaks with PopMatters about reconnecting with a philosophical part of herself. She also discusses how the film asks the audience to look past perceived differences, to discover what they share in common with the Chinese people.

What was the genesis of this observation of life inside a Chinese hospital?

It was part of a personal project. I was living in France at the time, and I was so stressed that I became sick. It was the trigger for all of this. I had to be hospitalised for a little while, and I realised how I was responding to being ill was different to how French people did. I began to ask myself, “Is it me, or is it the fact that I’m Chinese?” It was then that I said to myself, “I’d like to make a movie about this subject.”

When I got back to China, I contacted all of my friends and reached out to my contacts. One of my friends told me they were making a TV series in the hospital setting. I immediately wanted to be a part of it, and I took advantage of being on the film crew to research for this, my own personal project. By the time we’d finished filming, I had the answers I was looking for, and I started to draft my own script and ideas. 

The series wanted to tackle the idea that a miscommunication exists between the patient and the caregivers. It was successful, and there was a 12% drop in miscommunication between the doctors and the patients. 

Working on the series allowed me to gain trust within the hospital, and when I presented my idea to the series producer, I already had the contacts, and she gave me some of hers, and so the transition was a smooth one. Everything aligned perfectly for me to make this movie.

There’s a negative perception of China that permeates Western culture. Could H6 be an opportunity for cinema to humanise the Chinese people to the prejudiced and break down these cultural, political, and economic barriers?

China has generally grown much faster than Europe. What takes Europe a hundred years to do, China does within thirty. This creates negative views amongst people. My movie paints a picture of how the philosophy of life and death of the Chinese people has not changed. 

Life in the hospital is a little snippet of the Chinese world in general. They move very fast, in an almost robotic and organised way. The movie took place five years ago, but it could have happened long before then. Moving past the obstacles and finding the balance of life to quickly move forward is embedded in their ideology. 

The Chinese way of life can be pessimistic and there’s a little sourness, but they’re also very happy and they want to move forward. This notion of life, philosophy, and the family context took me back to my childhood. Having lived abroad for so long, I was able to rediscover that philosophical part of myself. 

Generally speaking, people find themselves interested in Chinese politics or economics, but it’s vital to be interested in its people as well. I wanted to portray the Chinese people in a more human way, but I also wanted anyone watching this movie to question themselves, to ask whether they’re different, or similar to the Chinese people? How do we process emotions like love or sickness? 

Do you think humans prefer finding differences rather than similarities? Where does this drive towards divisiveness come from?

There’s the notion that life experience influences the way we perceive, whether you’re from Europe, or you’re living in the Chinese community. A common collectivism still exists in Chinese culture. We have our own little clique that’s rather small but can expand depending on what we have in common. 

Collectivism helps doctors to try to do their best for their patients. This relationship is very specific in China. Even within the family, as you can see in the film with the one father for example. He’s trying to help his daughter, and at the same time, she’s trying to treat him. They’re even careful around the other patients.

Everybody acts as a family unit and helps one another in that way. This notion is embedded in Chinese society. It could be awkward, but it comes from the intention of functioning as a family unit, whether it’s in the hospital, or among family. 

Are you stepping back to create a space for the audience to enter the film? Instead of telling them what to think and feel, you’re asking them to not just look, but to see; to not just hear, but to listen. 

This was the thought behind the movie because I wanted it to be in a documentary style, but also fictional. I want the audience to draw their own conclusions and understand what’s happening without the stereotypes and bias. I wanted to allow everything from the patients, the hospital, and the hustle, to be present without any outside influence. When I was editing the movie, I wanted to listen emotionally.