Three Films by Jia Zhangke (15.)
Directed by Jia Zhangke.
A three-disc, dual format Blu-ray/ DVD box set released by Arrow Academy including:
Mountains May Depart. (12A.) 2015. Starring Tao Zhao, Yi Zhang, Jing Dong Liang, Zijian Dong, Sylvia Chang, Sanming Han. 123 mins.
A Touch of Sin. (15.) 2013. Starring Wu Jiang, Vivien Li, Lanshan Luo. 127 mins.
24 City. (U.) 2008. Starring Joan Chen, Tao Zhao, Jianbin Chen, Liping Lu. 109 mins.
Around a decade ago some fairly outlandish claims were being made for the work of Jia Zhangke, some reviewers calling him one of the world's most important filmmakers. Well, I don't know about that, but he specialises in one of the world's most important and fascinating topics: the consequences of China's mass lurch into state capitalism. For international audiences he has been the Chinese filmmaker who has best illustrated the dramatic social and political upheavals in his country during this century. With his wry, detached style he has captured the ironies of a one-party state unleashing the forces of unchecked capitalism, the brutalities of industrialisation and the pains of a rural society being hurried along into becoming urban high rise one.
His filmmaking has mirrored that shift. He started out as an arthouse director/ documentary maker. I first encountered his work at a London Film Festival about a decade ago with the film Still Life, a quiet taciturn affair, more documentary than drama, about people being displaced by the Three Gorges Dam project. From there he has gradually moved away from the margins towards something more mainstream: films with stories and characters where occasionally things happen. Whereas his films used to be things that would appear at film festivals and get a brief run out down at the BFI Southbank, now they will appear in a more prominent position at film festivals and get a slightly longer run out down at the BFI Southbank and be shown at a few other arty cinemas in selected metropolitan areas across the land.
The landscape of his filmmaking is filled with half-built airports and bridges, gleaming train stations, communities scattered across the hillsides surrounding a lake or reservoir, workers dormitories and motorbikes moving through dust. There is the occasional neon-lit city street but mostly he concentrates on small (for China) communities and the harsh terrain. The landscape dominates the characters, though over the course of this collection his filmmaking becomes more focused on the performers.
His work is quiet and understated. He's not much of a dramatist and I suspect he doesn't much like working with actors (well, why would you?) but an ability to frame truly telling images allows him to really gets to the heart of life in China. It's a society in constant and unruly flux, families and relationships being pulled apart as people migrate across vast distances to find menial, low paid work in factories and mines. It's as if Mao's Long Marsh had never really but simply dissipated into a nationwide scramble, a billion people zigzagging across the country trying to find a place for themselves.
Arrow's box set gathers together his last three features films, a decade of work. (Outside of these he makes shorts and documentaries.)
24 CITY.
A TOUCH OF SIN.
MOUNTAINS MAY DEPART.
Extras.
The Extras are very much a Tony Rayns joint, the film critic who has specialised in East Asian cinema. He provides quarter hour introductions for each film (probably best seen afterwards) and conducts two of the three lengthy interviews with the director that are on each disc.
There are also a couple of Jia Zhangke's short films, some Making Ofs, a booklet, a visual essay placing Jia Zhangke work in the context of Chinese cinema.
Plus, there's a Limited Edition exclusive: a full length (105 mins) documentary on him by the Brazilian director Walter Sallas (Motorcycle Diaries, On The Road.) All of these reveal Jia Zhangke to be a short, owlish fellow, resembling Andre Previn.
Directed by Jia Zhangke.
A three-disc, dual format Blu-ray/ DVD box set released by Arrow Academy including:
Mountains May Depart. (12A.) 2015. Starring Tao Zhao, Yi Zhang, Jing Dong Liang, Zijian Dong, Sylvia Chang, Sanming Han. 123 mins.
A Touch of Sin. (15.) 2013. Starring Wu Jiang, Vivien Li, Lanshan Luo. 127 mins.
24 City. (U.) 2008. Starring Joan Chen, Tao Zhao, Jianbin Chen, Liping Lu. 109 mins.
Around a decade ago some fairly outlandish claims were being made for the work of Jia Zhangke, some reviewers calling him one of the world's most important filmmakers. Well, I don't know about that, but he specialises in one of the world's most important and fascinating topics: the consequences of China's mass lurch into state capitalism. For international audiences he has been the Chinese filmmaker who has best illustrated the dramatic social and political upheavals in his country during this century. With his wry, detached style he has captured the ironies of a one-party state unleashing the forces of unchecked capitalism, the brutalities of industrialisation and the pains of a rural society being hurried along into becoming urban high rise one.
His filmmaking has mirrored that shift. He started out as an arthouse director/ documentary maker. I first encountered his work at a London Film Festival about a decade ago with the film Still Life, a quiet taciturn affair, more documentary than drama, about people being displaced by the Three Gorges Dam project. From there he has gradually moved away from the margins towards something more mainstream: films with stories and characters where occasionally things happen. Whereas his films used to be things that would appear at film festivals and get a brief run out down at the BFI Southbank, now they will appear in a more prominent position at film festivals and get a slightly longer run out down at the BFI Southbank and be shown at a few other arty cinemas in selected metropolitan areas across the land.
The landscape of his filmmaking is filled with half-built airports and bridges, gleaming train stations, communities scattered across the hillsides surrounding a lake or reservoir, workers dormitories and motorbikes moving through dust. There is the occasional neon-lit city street but mostly he concentrates on small (for China) communities and the harsh terrain. The landscape dominates the characters, though over the course of this collection his filmmaking becomes more focused on the performers.
His work is quiet and understated. He's not much of a dramatist and I suspect he doesn't much like working with actors (well, why would you?) but an ability to frame truly telling images allows him to really gets to the heart of life in China. It's a society in constant and unruly flux, families and relationships being pulled apart as people migrate across vast distances to find menial, low paid work in factories and mines. It's as if Mao's Long Marsh had never really but simply dissipated into a nationwide scramble, a billion people zigzagging across the country trying to find a place for themselves.
Arrow's box set gathers together his last three features films, a decade of work. (Outside of these he makes shorts and documentaries.)
24 CITY.
A TOUCH OF SIN.
MOUNTAINS MAY DEPART.
Extras.
The Extras are very much a Tony Rayns joint, the film critic who has specialised in East Asian cinema. He provides quarter hour introductions for each film (probably best seen afterwards) and conducts two of the three lengthy interviews with the director that are on each disc.
There are also a couple of Jia Zhangke's short films, some Making Ofs, a booklet, a visual essay placing Jia Zhangke work in the context of Chinese cinema.
Plus, there's a Limited Edition exclusive: a full length (105 mins) documentary on him by the Brazilian director Walter Sallas (Motorcycle Diaries, On The Road.) All of these reveal Jia Zhangke to be a short, owlish fellow, resembling Andre Previn.
