24 City [& film club news]

With each of Jia Zhang-Ke’s films, I get a better idea of what he is about, as he negotiates the shifting boundary between documentary and fiction filmmaking, and between old Maoist and new capitalist regimes in China. This film about a strategic aircraft plant in Chengdu being torn down to make way for the modern apartment complex of the title looks like straight documentary, with direct to the camera testimony from various participants and witnesses. But some of the characters are “real” and some are actors, a split that seems seamless, unless you recognize the actor. Even to the uninitiated the game is given away by a character who introduces herself by the nickname of “Little Flower,” which she was dubbed because of her resemblance to the famous Chinese movie character played by Joan Chen – and she is played by none other than Joan Chen. Each of the witnesses narrates a segment of the history of Factory 420, as it was created by equipment and workers being moved across the country into an all-encompassing factory village within the city, turning out military parts to combat “American imperialism” in the wake of the Korean War. The progress of the generations from hardship through proud productivity to globalized consumerism is portrayed through the succession of witnesses, and adds up to a compelling story. With the added twist that Chengdu was the site of a major earthquake in Sichuan just after the film was shot in 2008. (2009, dvd.) *7* (MC-75.) (24 City ranks #16 in the indieWire critics survey for 2009, and as I work my way down the list, I also watched #15 You, the Living, Roy Andersson’s deadpan series of black humor vignettes set in the monochrome landscape of urban Sweden, but it was lost on me.)

Jia’s 2004 film on globalization within China, The World (MC-81), will be the next screening for the Cinema Salon Film Club at the Clark, on Friday, February 26, at 4:00 pm (I’ll start my introduction at 3:45 since the film is over two hours), and I expect it to be a revelation on the big screen, which is a must for searching out detail in the meticulous framing of Jia’s long-shot, long-take style.

Following up on the last session, I recapitulate the Iranian films I recommended:
Abbas Kiarostami: Close-Up (1989), The Taste of Cherry (1997), Ten (2002).
Mohsen Makhmalbaf: Gabbeh (1996), Kandahar (2001).
Majid Majidi: Children of Heaven (1997), The Color of Paradise (1999), Baran (2001).
Jafar Panahi: The White Balloon (1995), The Circle (2000), Crimson Gold (2003), Offside (2006).
Not technically Iranian, but informative about Iran and highly recommended is Persepolis (2007), the animated adaptation of Marjane Satrapi's graphic memoirs.

For access to these DVDs, I refer you to this Netflix listing of Iranian films, ranked by viewer ratings.