24 City
Dir. Jia Zhang-ke w/ Zhao Tao, Joan Chen. 107 min. Visions.
BY Jason Anderson
August 26, 2008 20:08
It’s been China’s year in just about every conceivable manner. Leave it
to the country’s most celebrated young filmmaker to create a uniquely
insightful and evocative portrait of Chinese society as it undergoes
yet another seismic change. Integrating interviews with actual workers
and fictional monologues by actors (including Joan Chen and Jia regular
Zhao Tao) with haunting views of the industrial landscape, the film
charts the transition of a military aviation factory into a “living
community” named 24 City. In so doing, Jia reveals the impact of
China’s industrial and cultural reforms on the people most likely to be
tossed around by the turbulence.
Email us at:
LETTERS@EYEWEEKLY.COM or send your questions to EYEWEEKLY.COM
625 Church St, 6th Floor, Toronto M4Y 2G1