Lacking in any formal plot, the film instead captures seemingly mundane moments, customers asking for the train schedule, shots inside public buses, etc. The result, according to Chinese film scholar Berenice Reynaud, is a film that captures the "ennui, backwardness, and dreary atmosphere of a small town, and the impatience, hidden desires and private concerns of its inhabitants." For Jia, the film was a chance to focus on the public spaces in a modern provincial city of China: the train stations, discos, and karaokes of Datong.
director: Jia Zhangke
Credits
director: Jia Zhangkeproducer: Seoung-Jae Cha
screenplay: Jia Zhangke
Editor: Jia Zhangke
Cinematography: Jia Zhangke & Nelson Lik-wai Yu
production company: Sidus
More info
country: South-Koreayear: 2001
Filmography
ZHANGKE JIA (1970): Xiaoshan Going Home (1995), Pick Pocket (1997), Platform (2000), The Condition of Dogs (2001, short), In Public (2001, short), Unknown Pleasures (2002), The World (2004), Dong (2006), Still Life (2006), Our Ten Years (2007, short), Wuyong (2007), Stories on Human Rights (2008), Heshang aiqing (2008, short), 24 City (2008), I Wish I Knew (2010), Yulu (2011), Venice 70: Future Reloaded (2013), A Touch of Sin (2013), Smog Journeys (2015, short), Mountains May Depart (2015), The Hedonists (2016, short), Ash is Purest White (2018).
Technical Specs
Other festival films by director Jia Zhangke
2018:Ash is Purest White2015:Mountains May Depart
2013:A Touch of Sin