Unknown Pleasures

Rating:
Summary: China is on the move, but the road is still long
Review: That is a new wind finally blowing on China, in a way. The picture of these young Chinese in Beijing, growing up among enormous roadworks and closed-up factories is quite realistic. Some young people in this country that is growing so fast and transforming itself so deeply can only be bored somewhere, if they are not taken up by the movement, and some are definitely not. It no longer is the time of Red Guards and the Cultural Revolution. And it is not yet the time of entrepreneurial dynamism for everyone bringing benifits to everyone. We feel behind the scenes a strict social control in every neighborhood coming from some local « bureaucrats » or « representatives » of we do not exactly know what or who. There definitely is some moral order everywhere in this life, and ways to negociate it and do what one wants to do. Some evils do exist here and there, more or less known and tolerated : prostitution, alcoholism, demotivation, speculation, black market, and many other small activities that represent big money in a country where money is not running full blast in the pipes. But this film was shot and shown in China, and it is no propaganda about what China would like us to believe it is, or even about what China really is. It is a realistic, blunt, and slightly slow image of one section of China that points out real problems more than solutions. This realistic tone is new and it is also courageous in a country that is growing so fast to point out the negative points more than the progress being made. We can even think that in four years, for the Olympic Games they will surprise us, even if they have not yet solved two essential evils : the death penalty and democracy. But when realistic films can be shot and shown in a country, that country is on the right road.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU

Rating:
Summary: Like a Chinese "Slacker"
Review: You'd really have to think that Richard Linklater's Slacker was the basis for this film. Young people in today's Shanghai, China drift around with not much to do, not much thought about what to do, and not much motivation to do anything anyway. They ride their motorbikes, engage in relationships that don't really go anywhere, relate to each other without much to satisfy anyone at all. Of course, if they had any real interests or direction, it might make it easier to relate to people, wouldn't it?

This directionless psychology is mirrored, as was true in Slacker, by the tone and tempo of the film. The director jumps from one thing to another randomly without much focus other than to show just how directionless these young people are. In addition, by including shots that go on and on with the same exact thing (e.g., a guy riding his motorbike on a highway; the same guy trying to start his motorbike in a gravel rut), the psychology of sameness of life, monotonous nothingness is emphasized.

This does bring its theme home, no question. The real question is whether this makes for an intriguing film. For those who want a slice of life--no doubt the aim of Linklater's Slacker as well--this film certainly provides it. For those who are more comfortable with a story line that has momentum, it's definitely not here. Even the love interests, such as they are, are not only never fully realized, but the reasons for that lack of realization are not fully explored. The screenwriter and director are essentially indicating to the audience that because these ARE young people, they are never going to know what they want to do other than be with each other, never going to know how to get what they want, never going to know if they ever WILL want anything at all anyway. So why bother probing character?

Not the best film in the world, if you ask me.