Blurring Reality’s Edge in Fluid China – Dennis Lim

Another review of Jia Zhangke’s Still Life, which just opened in New York, from the New York Times:

20Lim600.1A meticulous record of a vanishing world — Mr. Jia’s cinematographer, Yu Lik-wai, surveys the wreckage with slow panning shots that evoke the horizontal expanse of Chinese scroll paintings — “Still Life” is an act of commemoration and of stoic protest. “I don’t start from a political standpoint,” Mr. Jia said. “But if you make a film about China right now, you have to talk about the politics and the changes that are affecting people.”

Convulsive change is the norm in capitalist China, and since it is also the subject of Mr. Jia’s films, he said, “I sometimes feel I’m racing against time.” At 37 he has amassed a body of work — seven feature-length fiction films and documentaries — that is remarkable for its formal ambition, ethnographic richness and moral weight. [Full text]

[Image: Zhao Tao in Jia Zhang-ke’s “Still Life,” via the New York Times]

CDT EBOOKS

Subscribe to CDT

SUPPORT CDT

Browsers Unbounded by Lantern

Now, you can combat internet censorship in a new way: by toggling the switch below while browsing China Digital Times, you can provide a secure "bridge" for people who want to freely access information. This open-source project is powered by Lantern, know more about this project.

Google Ads 1

Giving Assistant

Google Ads 2

Anti-censorship Tools

Life Without Walls

Click on the image to download Firefly for circumvention

Open popup
X

Welcome back!

CDT is a non-profit media site, and we need your support. Your contribution will help us provide more translations, breaking news, and other content you love.