Documenting ordinary peoples lives

Movie-maker Jia Zhangke is a representative figure of China’s six generation directors. That refers to a group of young directors who are around the age of forty who often are the recipients of awards from abroad. Jia’s films documentary-style films are made even more powerful due to their authenticity and reality. His down-to-earth portrayal of the lives of ordinary people have earned him legions of loyal followers. In Today's spotlight we review Jia’s latest film -- “24 City”.

The film “24 CITY” is based on a group of workers
living and working in a military-supply ***
factory. It documents the changes in the lives of
ordinary workers in a factory that will soon be
converted into a civilian-use company.

The film “24 CITY” is based on a group of workers living and working in a military-supply *** factory. It documents the changes in the lives of ordinary workers in a factory that will soon be converted into a civilian-use company. Jia’s early films were often set in the director’s hometown of Shanxi. But this film, along with Jia’s last movie... are set in the city of Chengdu, in southwest China. The area is well-known for rich produce and spicy food, as well as the prosperous atmosphere among civilians.

The film features a time span of fifty years, during which the roles experience the ups and downs of their lives. Actresses Joan Chan, Lv Liping and Zhao Tao are in the cast, as they are in nearly all of Jia's films. Joining them is popular television star Chen Jiabin.

The names of the stars do not appear in the film until about one-half hour into the film. Jia Zhangke makes use of some non-professional actors and actresses as cast members during the first half hour of the film. That's because he says the stories of real people are often even MORE fascinating than the best scripts. That's characteristic of Jia's films, which is evident from his previous works. Jia says he interviewed nearly a hundred workers in the factory where the story takes place.

Director of "24 City" Jia Zhangke said, "I hope to do all of the interviews by myself. This work should’t be done by others. I went to Chengdu for around ten times during the course of one year... with my longest stay being sixty six days. Sometimes when the person is silent... the words he DOESN'T speak are much more powerful than what any scripted lines can say."

The stars are dressed and behave just like ordinary workers. Ordinary people might not be able to differentiate between the stars and the non-professionals. The actors and actresses say the documentary style film was a big challenge.