Chinese-Language Films at Berlinale 2020: by Wang Zifei
The 2020 Berlinale marks the 70th edition of the Berlin International Film Festival. The anniversary, which took place from February 20 to March 1, 2020, was the first festival headed by director duo Mariette Rissenbeek and Carlo Chatrian. This year, seven Chinese-language films[1] produced by filmmakers from mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan were screened at Berlinale. This article discusses the films individually through a brief account of their content and an introduction of their filmmakers.
Directed by Tsai Ming-Liang with Lee Kang-Sheng, Anong Houngheuangsy.
Taiwan 2019, Without dialogue, 127’, World premiere
Winner Teddy Jury Award, Berlinale
No International Sales Agent (ISA)
Among the 18 films in the main competition section, Rizi (Days) is the only Chinese-language film. The film, delving into the colossal topic of loneliness through a depiction of the time two marginalized male protagonists spent in a hotel in Bangkok, was given the Teddy Award on February 28. Tsai spent 4 years shooting this unplanned, unscripted, purely conceptual film, and he has crafted a beautiful experience for all the senses through his slow-cinema auteurism.
Tsai Ming-Liang is an important figure in the history of Chinese-language cinema. Born in Malaysia in 1957, he moved to Taiwan in his 20s and became one of the most celebrated “Second New Wave” film directors of Taiwanese cinema. As a globally renowned artist, Tsai makes an active presence on the international film festival circuit. He won the Golden Lion at Venice in 1994 for his second feature film Vive L’amour, which tells a story about how three lonesome young people in metropolitan Taipei unknowingly share an apartment that is used for sexual trysts. His third feature film The River, centering on sexuality in the postmodern context of family, was awarded a Silver Bear in 1997. In 2005, he won another Silver Bear along with Alfred Bauer Prize for his controversial film The Wayward Cloud which has a pornographic texture.
Tsai Ming-Liang is a festival darling because of his socially engaging themes and visually unique style. His recent works are highly experimental, and he attempts to explore different cinematic possibilities. Rizi as a dialogue-free odyssey gives the audience an immersive tour into the melancholic world of the main character Lee Kang-Sheng. Tsai has also done other works such as Visage (2009) and Journey To the West (2014) which exemplify the grace of the slow cinema. It is noteworthy that Tsai Ming Liang has collaborated with Lee Kang-Sheng for more than three decades, and their comradeship has become one of Tsai’s hallmarks. Having appeared in all of Tsai’s films, Lee’s life story is elegantly intertwined with Tsai’s film career. It seems like Tsai wants to reflect the transformative look of life through Lee, who is constantly and inevitably changing with the lapse of time. Rizi, focusing on Lee’s pain-ridden body, leads the audience to ponder over the meaning of joy in its meditative silence. In his recent films, Tsai shows his fondness for aesthetic minimalism; his shift from the broad scope of urban narratives to the intimate sphere of human emotions symbolizes his changing relationship with cinema.
2. Yi Zhi You Dao Hai Shui Bian Lan (Swimming Out Till The Sea Turns Blue) — Berlinale Special Directed by Jia Zhang-Ke
People’s Republic of China 2020, Mandarin, Subtitles: English, 112’, World premiere Documentary
International Sales Agent (ISA): MK2, Paris
In this 18-chapter symphony, three preeminent writers Jia Pingwa, Yu Hua and Liang Hong, who belong to three different generations, describe their experiences with both the rural and urbanized China. Through the voices of the sensitive writers, Jia intends to present the vicissitudes of post-1949 China. This ruminative film is a lyrical documentation of the slowly disappearing countryside and a profound exploration of the sense of loss that is haunting the urban population.
Jia Zhang-Ke was under the spotlight at Berlinale this year. Aside from premiering his documentary, he also showed the 4K restoration of his first feature film Xiao Wu (1997) and gave three talks at Forum, Talents Event and On Transmission. As one of the most critically acclaimed Chinese directors in the world, Jia is loved by the international audiences. He tells the story of China with the internationally accessible cinematic language, and he sheds light upon the ordinary lives which are usually ignored in the mainstream films. Jia, as a representative of the Sixth-Generation filmmakers, is well-known for his uncompromising investigations and realistic representations of the marginalized groups in Chinese society such as migrant workers, prostitutes and peasants.
“The generational divisions of Chinese filmmakers are marked by significant social transformations; for example, the Fifth-Generation filmmakers share the memory of the cultural revolution, and the Sixth-Generation filmmakers share the memory of the economic reform,” Jia said at the Talent Event, “I hope we won’t have the Seventh Generation because I hope future generations can be free from the excruciating pains of national traumas and stay true to their individuality.”
Editor’s note on the Generational label used with Chinese films:
The generational divisions of Chinese filmmakers might be a little bit baffling for international audiences. In fact, there is no consensus on how to divide the generations. Just as Jia pointed out, filmmakers who belong to the same generation usually have gone through the same social upheavals. We can classify Chinese filmmakers as follows[2]. The First Generation (1905–1937) begins with the advent of silent films and ends with the beginning of War of Resistance against Japan; the Second Generation (1937–1949) refers to the pre-socialist wartime period; the Third Generation (1949–1978) covers the Communist Revolution; the Fourth Generation (1978–1989) starts with the death of Mao and ends with the graduation of the Fifth-Generation filmmakers including Chen Kaige and Zhang Yimou from Beijing Film Academy; the Fifth Generation (1983–1989) starts with their first experimental film and ends with the Tiananmen Square Incident; the Sixth Generation (1989 to the present) is the new generation.
The Sixth Generation, also termed as the Urban Generation, consists of idiosyncratic filmmakers who are involved in low-budget, urban-themed underground productions. These independent filmmakers devote themselves to making politically subversive projects that might be banned by the government, and their audacity to challenge cultural hegemony is recognized by especially the international film festivals. As most Chinese independent films are found politically acceptable and commercially unviable at home, going abroad becomes a strategy for these independent filmmakers. The international film festival circuit is rather crucial for Chinese independent filmmakers because it provides them with a key border-crossing opportunity. Thanks to the robust festival circuit, Chinese filmmakers can have access to foreign funds, press, audiences and other resources to enhance their image across the globe and hopefully make a glorious return home.
In other words, the festival circuit offers independent filmmakers in China a vital path to march towards the center from the margin. Jia Zhang-Ke is a perfect example for his metamorphosis from an underground artist to a celebrated cultural icon. During his underground years between 1997 and 2004, he obtained foreign investments to produce films and smuggled those films abroad for screenings at international festivals. His underground films Xiao Wu (1997), Platform (2000) [3], and Unknown Pleasures (2002) won an admirable array of awards at several international film festivals including Berlin International Film festival, the San Francisco International Film Festival, and the Vancouver International Film Festival. The interconnected film festival circuit soon became aware of Jia’s industrial potential and gave tremendous attention towards this rising star. During this period, Jia was in truth a ban locally, and a bang globally. Eventually, his overseas successes changed the state’s attitude towards the underground cinema and led to the legitimatization of filmmakers like him in 2004. Later on, his aboveground productions like The World (2004), Still Life (2006) were awarded at top festivals like Venice, and he was lionized with patriotic sentiments as “the latest exponent of national pride” and subsumed into the contemporary cultural heroes by Chinese press. On the one hand, Jia’s hardly gained legitimacy verifies the critical prowess he had accumulated at the festivals; on the other hand, it suggests the unsettling tension between art and politics. Jia’s bold investigation of Chinese society continues to be screened at various international festivals in his post-underground era, but what we see might not be a purely “independent” production, but a carefully planned work that is made to survive through censorship.
One of the most eye-catching sections of the 70th Berlinale was On Transmission. This special program was created to bring filmmakers from different generations together to share their stories, experiences and knowledge.
3. Xiao Wu (Artisan Pickpocket) — On Transmission
Directed by Jia Zhang-Ke, with Wang Hongweim Zuo Baitao, Has Hongjian
People’s Republic of China 1998, Mandarin, Subtitles: English, 108’, Color, 4K DCP
ISA: MK2, Paris
Jia Zhang-Ke is one of the first filmmakers who benefited from international film festivals, and the Berlinale can be seen as the starting point of his transnational film career. This year, the 4K restoration of his debut film Xiao Wu was screened at Berlinale in the newly curated section On Transmission. The film tells the story of a streetwise pickpocket named Xiao Wu who struggles to gain a foothold in a rapidly modernizing world. This incisive reflection of contemporary China, carried out by the authentic performance of amateur actors, was highly praised for its existential quality.
With its overwhelmingly positive feedback from the international audiences, Xiao Wu set a milestone in the Chinese independent cinema. The stylistic features of this film such as documentary realism, long-takes, vernacular dialogues, non-professional casts are still emulated by Chinese filmmakers today. Those characteristics are aligned with the art film tradition international film festivals adore, and Chinese independent filmmakers strive to incorporate those aesthetic elements into their works to make themselves discoverable on the global stage. It has been 23 years since the premiere of Xiao Wu, and it seems like it is time for Chinese independent filmmakers to galvanize the festival programmers with new sets of aesthetics.
4. Guo Zhao Guan (Crossing the Border) — On Transmission Directed by Huo Meng with Yang Taiyi, Li Yunhu, Wan Zhong
People’s Republic of China 2018, Mandarin, Subtitles: English, 93’, Color, 2K DCP
ISA: Yilisoo (Paris)
Jia Zhang-Ke chose Huo Meng, a 35-year-old filmmaker who has received awards at several domestic film festivals including Pingyao Film Festival, to have a dialogue with him at this special event. Guo Zhao Guan is Huo’s second feature film, and this low-budget production perfectly demonstrates what Jia is expecting from independent films — philosophical depth, sociopolitical significance, and humanistic values.
The film is about a road trip taken by one 77-year-old man and his grandson. It not only portrays the poetics of Chinese rurality, but also tackles profound issues such as family, death, and remembrance. Just like Jia Zhang-Ke’s Swimming Out Till The Sea Turns Blue which reflects the national history through the prism of rural China, Huo’s film navigates existential questions through the focal point of an elderly farmer.
In their conversation, two filmmakers talked about the necessity to pay attention to the countryside. Within the Chinese film industry, there is a rule of thumb — do not make films about the old, the sick and the rural, because they will not attract audiences. In the highly commercialized film industry, young filmmakers like Huo Meng give Jia a nice surprise with their acute critiques of history and reality. Huo shows his careful observation of rural China with an individualistic system of cinematic expressions which include elements from traditional Chinese opera and Western road movies. Jia considers the countryside as the key to decipher the urban conundrums, and Huo’s film leads us to embark on a thought-provoking, tear-jerking trip to rural China.
5. Ping Jing (The Calming) — Forum
Directed by Song Fang with Qi Xi, Ye Yuzhu, Song Dijin, Makiko Watanabe
2020, Mandarin, English, Japanese, subtitles: English, 89’, World Premiere
ISA: Yilisoo, Paris
Ping Jing (The Calming), produced by Jia Zhang-Ke and directed by Song Fang, is an arthouse pan-Asian production that shows the life of a female documentary filmmaker. The film gives a minimalist narrative, and it presents the main character’s search for inner peace through an almost uneventful storyline.
Ping Jing is not labelled as a film from the People’s Republic of China because of its hybridity. The film was shot in multiple places, namely Tokyo, Niigata, Beijing, Nanjing and Hong Kong. The transnational co-production of the film reflects the different possibilities young filmmakers like Song Fang have nowadays. Also, the film exemplifies the individualist filmmaking Jia Zhang-Ke promotes. The film revolves around the female protagonist Lin, and Song Fang skillfully presents her inner world through music and nature. Song clearly has shown her attempt to move beyond the prescribed cinematic forms and national framework. Rather than confining herself to audience expectations, Song stays true to her artistic intuition.
Jia Zhang-Ke is fond of independent filmmakers who are willing to unbridle themselves from the juggernaut of the market, and he is continuously supporting mavericks like Song Fang who struggle to reach a wide range of audiences. In order to efficiently help those independent filmmakers to gain more public exposure, Jia founded Pingyao International Film Festival (PYIFF) in 2017, a platform that connects Chinese talents to the world. It is gratifying to see young filmmakers who were awarded at PYIFF later progress towards other prestigious international film festivals.
Directed by Ray Yeung with Tai Bao, Ben Yuen, Au Ga Man Patra
Produced by Michael J. Werner, Teresa Kwong, Sandy Yip, Chowee Leow
Hong Kong, China 2019, Cantonese, subtitles: English, 92’
ISA: Films Boutique
Suk Suk is an exquisite piece of cinema that recounts the queer romance between two married grandfathers. This beautiful film sheds light upon the commonly forgotten community of elderly gays in Hong Kong who have disguised themselves as straight men through heterosexual marriages.
Ray Yeung was born in Hong Kong and his films usually touch on the conflicts between social expectations and personal desires. The issue of coming out has always been the focus of his films, and he tries to present this experience in different lights. Suk Suk is definitely a ground-breaking work for its unique perspective which is built upon scholarly fieldworks and in-depth interviews.
Comparing to the independent filmmakers from mainland China, Yeung shows a tighter affiliation with the international film market because of his multicultural background of living in different cosmopolitan cities including New York. A lot of Chinese filmmakers in the younger generations share a similar experience as Yeung, and they project a prosperous prospect for a transnational film career. It is exciting to see how the future of Chinese cinema turns out.
7. Qiu Shi (Harvest) — Generation Kplus
Directed by Sun Lijun
Without Language, People’s Republic of China 2020, World Premiere, 5’
Directed by Sun Lijun, Qiu Shi is an exquisite ink-wash-style animated short film jointly made by Beijing Film Academy and Shanghai Animation Film Studio. This 5-minute short film tells a simple story about a grasshopper’s search for food after the harvest in fall.
A 1983 ink-wash animated film called The Fight Between the Snipe and the Clam won the Silver Bear for Best Short Film at Berlinale in 1984. Now 37 years have passed, the charm of ancient art stays unabated. Despite the fact that Qiu Shi did not receive any award, it still attracted full houses of audiences to revel in Chinese art.
— — — — — — — — — — —
[1] Since the 1980s, the term “Chinese-language films” has been used in the Chinese-speaking world throughout academia and industry to avoid political and ideological implications. It refers to films made in the mainland, Hong Kong, Taiwan and other Chinese speaking communities.
[2] For more details, please refer to M. Christine Boyer’s “Approaching the Memory of Shanghai: the case of Zhang Yimo and Shanghai Triad (1995)” in Shanghai Reflections: Architecture, Urbanism, and the Search for An Alternative Modernity, page 85.
[3] According to Wendy Su, Xiao Wu was financed by Hong Kong’s Hu Tong Communications and India’s Radiant Advertising company, and it was distributed by Hu Tong Communications and Spain’s Prodimag. Platform was funded by France’s Artcam International, Hong Kong’s H Tong Communications, and Japan’s Bandai Entertainment Inc., Office Kitano, and T-Mark. Please refer to China’s Encounter with Global Hollywood: Cultural Policy and the Film Industry 1994–2013 by Wendy Su.
