1. FEATURED
24 | SINE SCREEN - THE WORLD CINEMA MAGAZINE
B
razilian filmmaker Walter
Salles, during the première of
his latest documentary “Jia
Zhang-Ke, a Guy from Fenyang”
at this year’s Berlinale, told the
audience a story of how he and
Chinese director Jia Zhang-Ke met
each other at the 48th Berlinale
in 1998. That year, the Brazilian
filmmaker won the golden bear
with “Central Station”, and Jia
made his première of his debut
film, “Pickpocket” in the Panorama
section. Thanks to that great
encounter, Salles’ documentary
exists today. This is excellent proof
that film festivals are quite magical.
It is never easy to make a film
in a different country, let alone
different languages – yet Salles
does so beautifully. Importantly,
Salles keeps his distance from the
film itself. He is not playing the role
as a storyteller, but rather, a silent
listener. The camera is always on
Zhang-Ke, and he guides us from the
very beginning, from the shabby high
street of his hometown Fenyang, to
the brand new flat of his parents’,
sharing the stories behind all his
films, from “Pickpocket” to “A
Touch of Sin”. The whole journey is
companied by nostalgia: the karaoke
once appeared in his film has gone,
as has the orange tree in front of his
family’s old house; the coal mines,
however, remain the same. By using
original footage from Zhang-Ke’s
films, Salles renders an exquisite
sense of nostalgia.
There are precious moments in
the films which depict unknown
sides to Zhang-Ke. After visiting his
family, Zhang-Ke talked about his
father. When he first showed his
father
“Platform” (his second feature
film), the father said nothing until
the next morning. Zhang-Ke shared
his father’s miserable, mistreated
experiences during the Cultural
Revolution, and his father’s worries
for Zhang-Ke and his film. Suddenly,
Zhang-Ke begins to cry.
There is no doubt that the
tears are for his father, but there
is something about his destiny in
the tears as well. Zhang-Ke’s films
are always socially concerned, and
there are many taboos involved
in his films which breached the
laws of the Chinese government.
Most of his films were banned in
China, including the newly released
Cannes award winner “A Touch
of Sin”. When the film was first
shown in Cannes Film Festival,
Zhang-Ke proudly announced
that it would soon be seen in
China, but ultimately, he did not
JIA ZHANG-KE
A GUY FROM FENYANGby Zhizi Hao
manage to make this happen. In his
documentary, Salles touches on a
painful phase that Zhang-Ke went
through, wherein he considered
giving up filmmaking because of the
doomed fate of “A Touch of Sin”
in his homeland. Zhang-Ke thus
returned to Fenyang, trying to figure
out the next step of his career in his
hometown.
Luckily enough for us, Zhang-
Ke eventually decided to carry
on making films. His new film,
“Mountains May Depart” has already
premiered at Cannes Film Festival.
Zhang-Ke’s wife and muse, Zhao Tao
is in the film, and showcases her
beautiful dancing. Tao’s beautiful
dancing in “Pickpocket” formed a
part of her reminiscence in Salles’
documentary.
The ending scene of the film
is one of the most poignant. After
Zhang-Ke returns to Fenyang, he
invites childhood friends to reunite
at a dinner. Zhang-Ke gets drunk,
and the song “The Love of Kingdom
and the Beauties” suddenly plays.
This is a beautiful echo back to
Zhang-Ke’s first film, “Pickpocket”,
in which also he used the song.
Lily Lee sings, “Life is short,
why don’t we have fun till we get
drunk.” Zhang-Ke, merry and well,
categorically agrees.