24 City (Jia Zhangke, 2008)

[thirtyframesasecond]

Er shi si cheng ji / 24 City

Shown at the London Film Festival, but release dates are currently sketchy outside of the festival circuit. Still Life only got a UK release because the BFI ran a Jia Zhangke season.

Another terrific and ambivalent examination of China's economic boom. Factory 420 in the city of Chengdu, moved from the NE border with Korea in the 50s, once made miliary parts but became a producer of consumer goods. Now closing down, to be replaced by lavish apartment complexes. A form of docudrama, Jia Zhangke interviews nine people whose lives were shaped by the factory who reveal their memories and own personal stories; five real individuals, four actors. From this, we gather in a nutshell China's economic circumstances since Communist rule, and the social consequences of rampant capitalism. Essential stuff.

[foggy eyes]

My initial reaction: more than a little underwhelming, and perhaps Jia's first misstep. Certainly very engaging on the level of content, but not form - this isn't nearly as innovative with the familiar structure of the documentary format as Dong & Wu yong (both of which focus on an individual subject before opening out to a much broader socio-cultural portrait, digressing and following threads which other filmmakers would have left dormant). Joan Chen and Zhao Tao seemed to overplay their material, and I don't think much (if anything) is gained by substituting 'realism' for performance/fiction by replacing the living subjects with actors. Also, Yu Lik-wai (& Wang Yu)’s cinematography is nowhere near as impressive as Still Life or The World during the frequent inserts which bookend the static 'talking heads' bits. If Jia wasn't being pegged as the shit-hot new Asian auteur at the moment (which seems to be the case at least here in the UK), I doubt there would be much festival hype around this at all.

[PimpPanda]

I didn't think this was a misstep at all; definitely not perfectly realized, but still enormously affecting.

[Giles]

DC will get it's premier next March at the annual Environment Film Festival

[Jun-Dai]

Looking forward to this tonight (my first film at the IFC Center). Although having just read the New Yorker article on Jia Zhangke I'm really hoping that I'll get a chance to see his pre-The World films at some point.

[cinemaguild]

Hi Everyone,

You can check out the film's official website for a regularly updated list of playdates in other cities.

Best,
Ryan

[James]

You can check out the film's official website for a regularly updated list of playdates in other cities.

I would like to see it come to Los Angeles.

[Jun-Dai]

I think I'm going to have to watch it again. I was sort of struggling to stay awake for most of the first half that by the time I finally figured out what was going on, I had already forgotten most of what had been talked about.

Not a quick 107 minutes. 24 City doesn't have the memorable visual style of Still Life, and the lack of recurring characters really tugs at my patience. I think I'll try to catch it again on DVD at some point.