Er shi si cheng ji

Many highly touching stories, but with China full of these stories, did it really take the country's foremost filmmaker to make it? I have my doubts.

It soon struck me that this was a film that believed it was saying something, but actually had nothing to say.

The contrast between the real people telling their own stories and the actors melodramatically and unconvincingly retelling these stories made this film nearly unbearable to watch at times despite being riveting at other times. Cutting out all of the actors would've resulted in a much more powerful, albeit short, film. GTFO off the screen, Joan Chen: you are 50-years-old, a pretty 50, but still far too old to be playing a chick in her early 30s. Also, her accent irritates me.

Fact and fiction is blended together in this document of Factory 420. Real people talk about their memories of factory life between fictional scenes with actors replaying them, and actors talk about memories too between scenes of the factory being slowly pulled down and demolished. It doesn't completely gel. The pop music used can be emotional fitting one second and vulgarly sentimental in another. The result is still an original and fascinating work despite this.

Wonderful aesthetically, with gorgeous compositions, lovely use of music and a poetic air. Most intriguingly, Jia obliterates the line between documentary and drama, to the point where it's useless to distinguish between them. For the most part, it's an effective technique. The exception is Joan Chen, who comes off a bit too "actor-y". But it's certainly an interesting piece of work, covering the breadth of humanity in stories both universal and specific, and often heartbreaking.

"Simultaneously more and less than meets the eye." - Kevin Lee

A different kind of film. Very slow moving, ponderable.

Jia Zhang-Ke out-Herzog's Herzog.

Typical Chinese weirdness: chinese actors telling real-life chinese stories in a documentary. But still a fascinating one.

An interesting and heartfelt experiment.

Good. A series of interviews with the workers of a former Chinese aeronautics factory. The stories told are of a very intimate nature, often profound and thought provoking. My one big gripe here is the strange choice of the inclusion of some scripted interviews with well known actors which kinda kills the docu's vibe. Also it could have been a good 20 minutes shorter. Still, it competently puts a face behind that 'made in China' tag. Recommended.

Excellent film from Jia Zhangke, mixing interviews with authentic Chengdu residents with composite interviews delivered by actors. Jia never tips his hand as to which are which, effectively blurring the lines between fact and fiction with Herzogian flair. The narrative drive from old to young and factory to condominiums, along with the shifting attitudes toward community, family, and culture make for a fascinating portrait of a China in flux at the most fundamental levels.

Flawed but effective and moving. I don't understand the choice to combine documentary and scripted interviews. It's mostly believable but the occasional "actorly" performance can cheapen the real thing.