One of the many pleasures of the BFI London Film Festival is its unrivalled showcase of ‘foreign’ cinema. Each year I am dazzled by inventive work from international filmmakers and this film is no different.

A hot title in Cannes, Long Day’s Journey Into Night is a joy-ride for thrill-seeking cinemagoers. And though it borrows the title from Eugene O’Neill’s famed play, director Bi Gan presents something positively unique.

Haze-like in its proceedings, we never really know how much of what we are watching is true. What we do know is that a man called Luo Hongwu attempts to reunite with an old lover named Wan Quiwen. What follows however is a wonderfully poetic, dreamlike meditation on life, love and discovery.

Bi Gan gorgeously captures his actors in a noir style, adding to the deep mystery and intrigue of Luo’s journey. It’s almost as if we are watching Luo’s lucid dream. This comes to the fore in the film’s second half with a mind-blowing sequence in 3D – seemingly done in one take.

There are notable performances too, not least from Huang Jue as Luo.

Whilst it’s not a film that you can sit back and allow to wash over you, there is an element of Bi Gan’s work that takes place between the screen and your seat – and I don’t mean the 3D! This is detailed, layered stuff that truly thrives on a big screen. Whilst the film’s running time may initially deter you, it really does fly by. And when you leave the cinema, still in a trance-like state, you might look at your own environment in a slightly puzzled way.