Bodies for sale, cities for drowning—art meets exploitation in Jia Zhangke's most uncomfortable gaze.
Jia Zhangke travels with painter Liu Xiaodong from China to Thailand as they as they meet everyday workers in the throes of social turmoil. Liu Xiaodong is well-known for his monumental canvases, particularly those inspired by China's Three Gorges Dam project. Jia Zhangke visits Liu on the banks of Fengjie, a city about to be swallowed up by the Yangtze River. The area is in the process of being "de-constructed" by armies of shirtless male workers who form the subject of Liu's paintings. Liu and Jia next travel to Bangkok, where Liu paints Thai sex workers languishing in brothels. The two sets of paintings are united in their subjects' shared sense of malaise in the face of the dehumanizing labor afforded them.
Direction
Jia's patient observation lets exploitation breathe.
Cinematography
Fengjie's drowning architecture as accidental monument.
Director
Jia Zhangke
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Liu Xiaodong's paintings from this documentary now sell for millions, while his subjects received minimal compensation—a tension the film quietly documents.
Jia shot this concurrently with Still Life, which won the Golden Lion the same year; Dong's 16mm footage was meant as 'sketches' but became standalone.
CN
HK
