"Film Expedition: Mixed Sensations of Puzzlement and Engagement"
Scaling the Inferno - Jia Zhangke's Searing portrayal of Modern China
Jia Zhangke's groundbreaking film, "Wild Fire" (Feng Liu Yi Dai), ignited the Cannes Film Festival last year, as a meditative, experimental, cerebral odyssey. This masterpiece, initially titled Caught by the Tides, follows the tumultuous relationship of two lovers amidst China's staggering transformations. In an exclusive interview, we delve into Jia's psychological and social exploration of the Chinese landscape.
"I pondered how to give purpose to my existence amidst the breathtaking changes that China underwent in the past two decades. I felt lost, both in society and in life," confesses the acclaimed director of Still Life and A Touch of Sin. As he navigates the vortex of artificial intelligence and robotics (among other modern marvels), Jia struggles to find his footing.
"Gazing upon the current state of China, faced with robots and AI... I felt overwhelmed and needed a way to reconnect," he elaborates. So, he crafted time itself as a narrative tool, examining our humble beginnings and gradually understanding our trajectory to the present.
Set in 2001, 2006, and 2022, this film journeys through the exuberance of a new millennium, the desolation of a pandemic, and the contemplative void that followed. In the heart of it all, lovers are torn apart, drifting like flotsam amidst the relentless currents of change.
The Disease of Time
This film germinated during the COVID-19 lockdown, its narrative seeds sown in uncertainty and isolation.
"I conceived and produced it during the pandemic, yes. In 2001, we were brimming with hope, excitement, basking in the novelty of a new era. The openness, the newness… The stark contrast with the COVID-19 stasis, a time when everything came to a halt. For me, it was crucial to juxtapose these two distinct eras – the optimism of the new millennium and the stagnation of a pandemic – to truly illustrate the profound changes."
In the interim, the narrative weaves a transitional tale. In this liminal narrative space, Qiao Qiao, reunited by river with the man who abandoned her five years prior, Guao Bin, finds herself oblivious to his intentions.
"I had amassed a plethora of images: the early scenes of the film were shot in 2001, and I had been meticulously accumulating this material for a specific purpose. You see, in 2001, I had a tentative title for a potential film: The Man with the Digital Camera. I am a devoted admirer of The Man with the Camera, by Dziga Vertov, and I endeavored to honor him in my work. Thus, as digital cinema dawned, I employed a digital camera to document my reality spontaneously, parallel to my film production."
In the end, the film that paid homage to Vertov never materialized, but the parallel process endured.
"It evolved into an ambitious, non-linear project, and I yearned to take my time to capture as much material as possible. Then, the pandemic struck, and suddenly, all that material I'd gathered found purpose and a concluding trajectory."
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In the Shadows of Time
In a diminishing mining town in northern China, Qiao Qiao juggles multiple jobs, including performing in a seedy nightclub. She is in a torrid love affair with Guao Bin, who, without warning, abandons her for a new life in the south. A palpable silence follows. Five years later, Qiao Qiao embarks on a quest to find the lover who disappeared without a trace.
Alternatingly, we follow Qiao Qiao on a waterborne journey through towns destined for annihilation due to the Three Gorges Dam. Simultaneously, Guao Bin focuses on his business ventures. This narrative unfolds the intricate dance of a delayed breakup, unfolding in 2001, 2006, and 2022.
In the background, news reports of the impending flooding of the towns Qiao Qiao is traversing echo on the wind. Through these ravaged cities, the wanderer traces her path like a ghost.
If this second act evokes echoes of Jia's previous film, Still Life, it's because the filmmaker recycled footage shot then. Unused footage from Unknown Pleasures and Mountains May Depart were woven into the narrative fabric of Wild Fire, resulting in a "collage" effect that is both unsettling and inspiring.
Like the towns doomed to be submerged, Qiao Qiao and Guao Bin's relationship seems irrevocably lost. Yet, this journey through a changing land seems necessary for Qiao Qiao (and perhaps the filmmaker). It is at the end of this odyssey that Qiao Qiao realizes that, like the transformed landscape, she too has metamorphosed, leaving behind the young woman Guao Bin left behind.
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- To watch in video
- The acclaimed director, Jia Zhangke, reveals that during the COVID-19 lockdown, the concept for his latest film, a collage of sequences shot from 2001 to 2022, was conceptualized.
- In Jia's film, titled 'Wild Fire', Qiao Qiao's journey echoes the French concept of 'fluviale', a riverine voyage, as she seeks her lost lover in the heart of Chinese towns slated for demolition.
- As Jia delved into the historical transformations of China, he drew inspiration from diverse sources, integrating the cinematic style of "Movies-and-TV" into his work.
- Amidst the ever-changing landscapes of modern China, Jia Zhangke's masterpiece, 'Wild Fire', provides an insightful reflection, offering viewers a glimpse of China's past, present, and future wrapped within the evocative narrative of love lost and found.
