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"Still Life"
2006
Directed by Jia Zhang-Ke
Winner of the Golden Lion at the 2006 Venice Film Festival, this brooding
film from Jia Zhang-Ke (Unknown
Pleasures) shows the director again focusing on contemporary
China. Even though it shares stylistic similarities with documentary film,
Still Life has two narratives, both set in Fengjie, an ancient
village that was demolished and flooded to make way for the Three Gorges
Dam project. Han Sanming plays a miner who returns to the
half-deconstructed town in search of his ex-wife and daughter. At the same
time, a young nurse (Zhao Tao) arrives to look for her own estranged
spouse. Running through all this is the Herzogian theme of the individual
vs. massive, corrupt social structures, only inflected by anxieties
befitting a culture in transition. Filmed in gorgeous HD by
cinematographer Yu Lik-Wai. Mandarin with optional English subtitles.
108 minutes. |
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