43/35
Of course, if you’re over thirty-five
Synopsis
A Chinese woman lives a quiet life, celebrating the thriving Belle Epoque with song and dance. Have you ever bought a band’s album and found that instead of new material, it’s old B-rolls, remixes, and a few new songs for added value? Jia Zhang-ke’s "Tides Caught" is in many ways exactly that. But in doing so, he makes a statement about his career and, indeed, the changing face of the world around him. Qiao Qiao (Zhao Tao) has an affair with Guo Bin (Jubin Li), but continues his journey with Qiao Qiao.
falling behind him
She follows him over the years and across the country. But when she arrives at her destination, she may not have what she wanted. But the plot doesn’t really matter, because much of it has already been written and filmed over the years; now it’s just been remade. Excerpts from films like "Unknown Pleasures" (2002), “Still Life”; (2006) and “Mountains May Depart” (2015), if I recall correctly. This allows for a realistic depiction of both potential markers of time and their uneven aging.
It feels more like a series of vignettes than a well-constructed piece
So the scenes are different, yet very familiar, and serve as a kind of retrospective of Jia’s work in a more direct and better executed way than Takeshi Kitano’s attempt with “Takeshis”; (2005). The problem with making a film this way is that while it’s perfectly serviceable as a narrative film, messing with what you already have makes it a bit awkward in terms of flow. Watching multiple films that have been made reminds you of the original script, so it doesn’t feel like one story, but different stories stitched together. But there are some nice coincidences that materialize and allow Jia’s work to be more fluid. Text messages on an old Nokia become TikTok videos on the latest smartphone.
Jia is very unabashed about technology
TikTok stardom is more about cheap advertising than real fame and fortune; and service robots can easily be mistaken for simple inquiries. Technology plays an interesting role in shaping human relationships, especially in the last twenty years. If you know Jia’s work, you’ll immediately recognize what’s going on here. But if she starts over, it might feel like a slightly odd movie that doesn’t quite connect together. Some scenes don’t quite seem to fit; others were added when they were available, so it might require a bit of background work for the uninitiated and more for long-time fans.
Politic1983homeblog
Although they might think they’re watching “Still Life” all over again. Has life moved on in the last eighteen years?
