Country: China, Hong Kong, Japan
Year: 2008
Duration: 107'
Chengdu, nowadays. The state-owned factory 420 shuts down “This film is made up of interviews with five workers, who share their
to give way to a complex of luxury apartments called “24 City”.
Three generations, eight characters: old workers, factory executives
and yuppies, their stories are the History of China.
real-life experiences with us, and of fictional monologues by three
women. I decided to integrate documentary and fiction in this parallel
flow because this seemed to me the best way of representing the last
half-century of Chinese history. As far as I’m concerned, History is
always a blend of facts and imagination. The stories of these characters
center on a state-owned factory which supplies the Air Force and other
sectors of the military. The factory was founded 60 years ago and it has
weathered all of the successive political movements under communist
government. I’m not interested in chronicling this history as such,
but rather in seeing how a century of experiments with Socialism has
impacted on the fate of Chinese people.”
Biography
film director
Jia Zhangke
Jia Zhang Ke (Fenyang, China, 1970) graduated from Beijing Film Academy
international film festival such as Berlin, and in 1998 made his first feature film, Pickpocket, that was screened in several Pusan and Buenos Aires. He then directed Platform (2000), premiered in competition at Venice Film Festival and, in the same year, the documentary In Public that won the Grand Prix at Marseille Film Festival. He then made Unknown Pleasures (2002), screened in competition at Cannes Film Festival, The World (2004) and Still Life (2006) that won Golden Lion at Venice Film Festival. In 2007 he won the Horizons section at Venice with the documentary Useless and in 2008 he presented at the same festival the short Cry Me a River.
FILMOGRAFIA
Xiao Wu (Pickpocket, 1998), Zhantai (Platform, 2000), Gong gong chang suo (In Public, doc., 2001), Ren xiao yao (Unknown Pleasures, 2002), Shijie (The World, 2004), Dong (cm, doc., 2006), Sanxia haoren (Still Life, 2006), Wuyong (Useless, doc., 2007), Er shi
si cheng ji (24 City, 2008), Heshang aiqing (Cry Me a River, cm, 2008).
Cast
& Credits
regia/director Jia Zhang Ke
soggetto, sceneggiatura/story, screenplay Jia Zhang Ke, Zhai Yongming
fotografia/cinematography Yu Likwai, Wang Yu
montaggio/film editing Li Haiyang
scenografia/production design Qiang Liu
costumi/costume design Zhao Tong
musica/music Jing Lei Kong, Xudong Lin
suono/sound Yang Zhang
interpreti e personaggi/cast and characters Joan Chen (Gu Minhua), Lv Liping (Hao Dali), Zhao Tao (Su Na), Chen Jianbin (Zhao Gang)
produttori/producers Jia Zhang Ke, Shozo Ichiyama, Wang Hong
produzione/production Xstream Pictures, China Resources, Shanghai Film Group
coproduttori/coproducers Masayuki Mori, Yoshida Takio, Sadai Yuji, Kubo Satoshim, Xu Pengle, Zhu Jiong, Ma Ning
coproduzione/coproduction Office Kitano, Bandai Visual, Bitters End
vendita all’estero/world sales MK2