Jia zhangke by andrew chan in the marchapril 2009 issue anyone following the early films of jia zhangke would have pegged the mainland chinese wunderkind as a realist, fixated on the gritty textures and languid rhythms of provincial life. Sungkyunkwan university aeas academy of east asian. The narrative features of jia zhangkes still life na wenjie. Jia zhangke was born in 1970 in fenyang, a small town in. The workers bodies are juxtaposed with the the vast city, in sanxia haorenstill life jia zhangke, 2006.
Although they live ordinary lives, the characters in still life take on a more active attitude in. Pdf space and intermediality in jia zhangkes still life cecilia. The personal and authentic appeal in jia zhangkes accented films. Establishing a very different atmosphere to that of the hometown trilogy, unknown pleasures and the world, still life begins in darkness as we hear the soft sounds of a low melancholy foghorn, water lapping gently at the side of the boat. In still life, great changes have come to the town of fengjie due to the construction of the three gorges hydro project on the yangtze river. Jan 31, 2008 jia zhangke s still life, a deeply felt and quietly impressive film, was the winner of the golden lion at last years venice film festival, and features the superb and elegant actress zhao tao. The workers bodies are juxtaposed with the the vast city, in sanxia haoren still life jia zhangke, 2006. Still life jia zhangke, 2006 session 8 who is jia zhangke. Jia zhangkes still life to speak about what we dont know poor theory is both daunting and exhilarating. Kraicer even goes on to say that those looking to find support for an ambivalent interior critique of the concomitant pleasures and dangers of turning cinema itself into a series of tantalizingly consumable items could do worse than start here. Zhangke jia celebrity profile check out the latest zhangke jia photo gallery, biography. Breaking and retracing the borders of cinematic realism, these works privilege a feeling of the.
A reconsideration of still life dai jinhua translated by lennet. Independent filmmaker jia zhangke keeps going back to his hometown for inspiration. How does jia represent the relationship between individual and nation. Sanxia hao ren still life catalog search results iucat. Jia zhangke born 24 may 1970 is a chinese film director and screenwriter. He has been married to tao zhao since january 7, 2012.
Jia zhangke, a guy from fenyang was shot in fenyang, pingyao, hong nanche, and other cities and villages near the shanxi region, and also in beijing, at the world park, the film academy, the fine arts school, and jia zhangkes production company, xstream pictures. In the world of contemporary chinese cinema, jia zhangke is, in many respects. Still life, winner golden lion, venice film festival 2006, is an empathetic portrait of those left behind by a modernizing society and, as in director jia zhangkes earlier films platform, unknown pleasures, the world, it is a unique hybrid of documentary and fiction. Certainly, it is jeopardised in the opening minutes, when a migrant worker riding a motorbike along a dusty loop of mountain road has his path blocked by three bandits brandishing hatchets. Following the world, still life marks jia zhangkes second film since his. Still life is a coproduction between the shanghai film studio and xstream pictures. But the focus of the film is not on that beautiful natural setting, but on manmade squalor produced by the construction of the three gorges dam that the ordinary people of that region had to cope with. Space and intermediality in jia zhangkes still life cecilia mello1 it is a well known fact that cinemas greatest innovators tend to thrive in periods of cultural and. Scapegoat architecturelandscapepolitical economy issue. Jia zhangke s still life 2006 stands somewhat at the intersection of the directors earlier, more distinctly fictional, narrative films, and with his more recent, documentary style releases. Social palliatives and the rhetorics of transition in postsocialist china. To approach the cinema of jia zhangke is to encounter these surfaces that physically.
The surreal realist cinema of jia zhangke adelaide research. The world 2004 and the venice golden lionwinning still life. How does his work represent a new phase in chinese cinema. As an auteur in an age of transnational cinema, jia zhangke addresses the individual and the crowd in the everchanging society of contemporary china, rather than the essential chineseness that was discussed in the.
Still life 2006 marks a substantial advance on the world. Jia zhangke s still life to speak about what we dont know poor theory is both daunting and exhilarating. Pdf space and intermediality in jia zhangkes still life. Fengjies old town, which has a 2000year history, has been torn down and submerged forever. Still life did poorly in chinese theatres, just as jia expected. School of liberal arts,yunnan university,kunming yunnan,650091,china. Kraicer even goes on to say that those looking to find support for an ambivalent interior critique of the concomitant pleasures and dangers of turning cinema itself into a series of tantalizingly consumable items could do.
In this article, i aim to expand our understanding of the visual elements and increasing international appeal of contemporary chinese cinema in a chinese film named still life directed by jia zhangke. I now have 48 years of life experiences, and i want to use them to tell a love story set in a contemporary china, which has gone through epic and dramatic transformations. The result is a series of gritty, realistic films about life in a small chinese town. Ruin in the films of jia zhangke corey kai nelson schultz, 2016. Space and intermediality in jia zhangkes still life. Still life was filmed together with jia zhangke s documentary dong. Scapegoat architecturelandscapepolitical economy issue 03 realism 26 jia zhangkes still life. He is generally regarded as a leading figure of the sixth generation movement of chinese cinema, a group that also includes such figures as wang xiaoshuai, lou ye, wang quanan and zhang yuan. Space and intermediality in jia zhangkes still life cecilia mello1 it is a wellknown fact that cinemas greatest innovators tend to thrive in periods of cultural and.
Its hard to pinpoint the precise moment in a touch of sin when jia zhangkes reputation for the calm and contemplative takes a definitive battering. Jia zhangkes still life, iconology and ruins erudit. Pdf space and intermediality in jia zhangkes still. Through a close investigation of three recent films by chinese filmmaker jia zhangke. Labeled a member of the sixth generation of directors, jia zhangke gained wide international acclaim. Despite his films being subjected to censorship and denigration in his native china, jia zhangke has become the countrys leading independent film director internationally. Reviewers of jias film have eulogised, almost unanimously, its bittersweet ending. Jia zhangke was born in 1970 in fenyang, a small town in the northern province of shanxi. Still life was filmed together with jia zhangkes documentary dong. Directed by jia zhangke distributed by new yorker films dvd, 108 minutes, color, 2006. Made in companion with his feature film still life, jia interestingly. Zhangke jia was born on may 24, 1970 in fenyang, shanxi, china.
But if still life really is a film of great political interest, it is not only by virtue of its striving to bear witness to a china in full mutation. Still life sanxia haoren association for asian studies. A revised version of a speech given at the still life symposium at fenyang high school still life symposium. Destruction as intercession by erik bordeleau this essay is. The physical setting for still life is the three gorges region along the yangtze river, one of the most spectacular scenic areas in china.
Directors such as jia zhangke, lou ye and jiang wen have challenged previous cinematic practices, in particular the jishizhuyi style onthespot realism of the 1990s, by engaging disorienting tones and unusual visual elements in their films. Underneath his calm, cool exterior lies a burning intensity. Seen as one of world cinemas foremost auteurs, he has played a crucial role in documenting and reflecting upon chinas era of intense transformationssince the 1990s. Shot in the old village of fengjie, a small town on the yangtze river which is slowly being destroyed by the building of the three gorges dam, still life tells the story of two people in search of their spouses. Jia zhangke, 1970 courses in chinese language and culture.
This is not only in the way jia has deepened his themes and characterisations once again, his concerns are with individuals whose lives are disrupted and displaced by ongoing societal changes, but for the first time his central characters are older, more mature. To speak about what we dont know poor theory is both daunting and exhilarating. He is a producer and director, known for mountains may depart 2015, a touch of sin 20 and still life 2006. How, then, should we envisage the ethical and political tenor of jia zhangkes filmic interventions in relation to their acclaimed realism. Doaj is an online directory that indexes and provides access to. Zhangke jia celebrity profile check out the latest zhangke jia photo gallery, biography, pics, pictures, interviews, news, forums and blogs at rotten tomatoes. The world and still life mark a breakthrough in jia zhangkes cinematic aesthetics.
Jia zhangkes still life sanxia haoren, 2006 was shot in fengjie, shortly before its flooding brought about by the construction of the. The documentaryness of still life jia zhangke, 2006 ellen y. Popular music in jia zhangkes unknown pleasures pdf paperity. Chinese director jia zhangke turns to beijing city life in the world, after confronting urbanization in northern china in his first three features, unknown pleasures, platform and xiao wu pickpocket. Jia zhangkes world and chinas great transformation. It is widely acknowledged that jia zhangkes films, his hometown trilogy in particular, exemplify the style of jishizhuyi realism, as differentiated from the.
Countless families that had lived there for many generations have had to relocate to other cities. A reconsideration of still life dai jinhua translated by lennet daigle in the world of contemporary chinese cinema, jia zhangke is, in many respects, an exception to the rule. In this article, i consider the film the world, by the critically acclaimed young mainland chinese director jia zhangke, to be a useful tool for critical thinking about the challenges of globalization and modernity for chinas internal migrants, especially young women from the countryside, and the politics of their filmic representation. How does his work compare with fifth generation directors zhang yimou and chen kaige. Chinas three gorges dam is the largest hydroelectric megadam in world history and the subject of jia zhangkes digital film still life 2006, liu xiaodongs oil. Fei mus spring in a small town and jia zhangkes still life. It makes me feel that ive lived that way myself and that i still do. Information about the openaccess article space and intermediality in jia zhangkes still life in doaj. Two years later, he remains embittered, and is especially critical of zhang yimous coziness with the chinese government. Both touch on a world unfamiliar to jia zhangke, and in scope and depth they surpass his previous films. In contrast to the socalled fifth generation filmmakers who used only 35mm cameras, jia zhangke. While there is a plot and characters, this picture also captures a specific moment in time and records a pronounced and profound shift in the chinese landscape and the culture around the three gorges.