We’ll totally chalk it up to a lost in translation that’s all our fault if we have to, but man, Jia Zhangke’s “24 City,” was something we didn’t connect with in the least.
A pseudo-documentary/ fictional version of cinéma-vérité, the film centers on three generations of characters in the Chinese city of Chengdu and mixing a blend of fiction and fact, the film features five authentic interviews (some retired workers) and four invented stories all about people that worked amongst and around a state-owned factory that eventually gave way to a modern apartment complex.
As much a film nostalgic for Mao’s era of China as it is about post-industrial nation and its history, the film felt like a formalist exercises and we couldn’t help but remain completely unmoved and untouched by the entire tale. It’s not like we need stars, but the meta-narrative starring Joan Chen as a “little flower,” factory worker who was thought to look like Joan Chen was about the only time we perked up in what was otherwise a totally restless and unengaging film experience.
We couldn’t stop watching our cellphones for the time praying the tedium would soon be over. We won’t throw it under the bus and say it was bad filmmaking, but it felt completely foreign and alienating and again, we’re open to conceding to the idea that we didn’t get it, but, whoo, that was trying and taxing (there were at least two critics that walked out). What do we know? The film was accepted to Cannes and has been getting strong reviews, but it left us super cold. [C]
We saw Zhangke’s short film earlier in the week, “Cry Me A River,” former lovers who meet again one year later amongst the midst of beautiful botanical gardens. And while only 19-minutes long and shot in a similar, straight-forward and almost documentary style, we found it immensely more interesting.