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‘I Wish I Knew’: Jia Zhangke’s documentary is a rich collage of old Shanghai A story of modern Shanghai, told with stories from the past.
Between these segments, Jia throws in film excerpts, intertitles, and shots of his wife (and frequent collaborator) Zhào Tāo 赵涛 gloomily wandering through the city. The cookies collect this data and report it anonymously.Advertisement cookies help us provide our visitors with the most relevant ads and marketing campaigns. Shangguan, a brilliant actress who starred in But not all the memories here are bitter and tearful.
Your recently viewed items and featured recommendations Originally premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2010, it was commissioned for the World Expo in Shanghai that year, with relatively free rein for what the iconoclastic director wanted to make. Chinese director Jia Zhangke's documentary "I Wish I Knew" tells the story of Shanghai through residents from various stations in life.
A cook living in Beijing, whose employment is coming to an end, plans to return home to his rural village for the New Year.
Jia honors this link with various excerpts from older movies, along with interviews related to major actresses and filmmakers. The resulting mix of image and interview, weariness and wonder, makes for a sober assessment of just how much change China’s largest city has been through since the 1930s due to war, civil conflict, political and social upheaval, cultural representation, and the new economic rapacity.What ensues amidst Jia’s indelible, gliding visuals of modern Shanghai are ruminative testimonials from the breadth of an older citizenry — former soldiers, descendants of gangsters and politicians, and (lots of) artists who endured the city’s turbulent evolution, and who in their stories of family, love and survival form a tapestry of memory and wisdom.
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The War of the Worlds (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]
Jia also wrestles with how cinema has reflected narratives out of China, whether it’s the still-ticklish memory a retired laborer has from starring in a ’50s propaganda film that presented her as a “model worker,” or filmmaker Wang Toon talking about recreating his family’s escape to Taiwan for “Red Persimmon.”There are also interviews in “I Wish I Knew” with Taiwanese auteur Get our revamped Envelope newsletter, sent twice a week, for exclusive awards season coverage, behind-the-scenes insights and columnist Glenn Whipp’s commentary.
A documentary about my hometown Shanghai directed by Jia Zhangke, who is actually from Fenyang, Shanxi Province, I WISH I KNEW, the title refers to the oldie sung by one of the interviewees reminiscing a bygone era, when budding bourgeois value has been permanently instilled into the metropolis' distinct characteristics after being opened as a commercial port to the foreign trade at the middle of 19th century. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. Xiaofo was driving with his father down the street when their car was ambushed by secret agents, carrying out a hit ordered by Chiang Kai-shek (蒋介石 Jiǎng Jièshí) himself.
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Please try again. I Wish I Knew is a richly textured tapestry full of provocative juxtapositions. Footage of modern Shanghai, with its flashy skyscrapers and restless crowds, collides with quiet, stationary interviews of times long gone.