24 City is the first film by critically esteemed Chinese
director Jia Zhang-Ke that I’ve seen and it was a fascinating film. It
chronicles the closing and reopening of a factory into a luxury apartment
complex and in the time explores and evaluates 50 years of Chinese history and
culture. It is at a once a portrait of a rapidly changing China. It is also a
hard film to categorize since it includes documentary style interviews with
non-actors as well as performances in the same vein by actors-most notably Joan
Chen. It is also a stunning visual document of China at the moment with some stunning
cinematography. I am looking forward to seeing more of Zhang-ke’s earlier films
like Platform and Still Life. The DVD features an interesting short film, Cry Me A River, an interview with film critic Scott Foundas, and an essay by film critic Jonathan Rosenbaum.
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