24/18

Of course you have if you’re over thirty-five

Scenario

A Chinese woman lives silently by herself, celebrating the blossoming Belle Epoque with song and dance. The female lead doesn’t have a single line of dialogue in the entire film. Have you ever bought a band’s album and found that instead of new material, it has a few old B-sides, remixes and a couple of new songs as added value? Jia Zhang-ke’s Caught by the Tides is in many ways just that. But with that, there’s a statement about his career and indeed the changing face of the world around him.

As the years pass and across the country, she follows him

Qiao Qiao (Zhao Tao) shares a romance with Guao Bin (Zhubin Li), but he moves on, with Qiao Qiao trailing behind him. But when she reaches her destination, what she wished for may not be right for her. But in reality, the plot is irrelevant, as much of it has already been written and filmed over the years; it’s just been repurposed. Outtakes from the likes of Unknown Pleasures (2002), Still Life (2006), and Mountains May Depart (2015), if I remember correctly. This allows for a realistic depiction of the two derivatives over time and their uneven aging.

It feels more like a series of vignettes than a well-constructed work

The scenes are therefore different but very familiar, which serves as a sort of throwback to Jia’s work in a more direct and better executed way than Takeshi Kitano attempted with Takeshi’s (2005). The problem with making a film this way is that, while it works great as a narrative film, being embedded in what’s already there makes it feel a bit awkward in terms of its flow. Having seen many of the films the outtakes are taken from, it serves to remind you of the original scenario, and so it doesn’t quite feel like a single story, but rather several stories stitched together. But there are a few neat coincidences that materialize and allow Jia’s message to come across. Text messages on an old Nokia become TikTok videos on the latest smartphone.

Jia has a very wry view of technology

TikTok fame is more for cheap advertising than actual fame and fortune; and service robots can easily be confused with simple questions. Technology has played an interesting role in shaping the nature of human relationships, particularly in the last twenty years. If you know Jia’s work, you’ll immediately recognize what’s going on here. But looking at his work anew, this might seem like a slightly odd film that doesn’t quite fit together well enough. Some scenes don’t really seem to fit; more were added as they became available.

Even though they may feel like they are watching Still Life

So for the uninitiated, this may require some background work, but for long-time fans, this is another. again. Has life evolved in the last eighteen years?Politic1983.home.blog.