On the Edge: New Independent Cinema from China

East Asia has long been at the cutting edge of world cinema and at the edge of that edge are those recent Chinese indies that focus on China's economic transformation and ensuing social contradictions. Jia Zhang-ke is the key figure. As part of its weekend series On the Edge: New Independent Cinema from China, the Walter Reade is showing The World, Jia's 2004 portrait of globalization made material in a Beijing theme park, along with four other recent movies. These include two first features—Han Jie's 2006 Rotterdam prizewinner Walking on the Wild Side, an autobiographical account of growing up in Shanxi province's economic wild west and Wanma Caidan's The Silent Holy Stones, a document of life in Tibet. Also featured are two fine movies that have enjoyed some local play. Wang Chao's The Orphan of Anyang is an understated, impeccably shot tale of a young prostitute who engages an unemployed factory worker to babysit her child. (There's a majestic vision of China implicit in these carefully composed images of makeshift brothels, ugly industrial buildings, dirty canals, outdoor food stands, and flophouse interiors.) More rough-hewn, Li Yang's Blind Shaft is a ferocious muckraker, depicting the brutal conditions and murderous scams of China's exploited miners. Anthology Film Archives is offering an apt follow-up next Wednesday (April 18) with a week-long run of Wang Bing's nine-hour epic documentary West of the Tracks, studying the human wreckage left by the collapse of the Shenyang state steel works. Walter Reade Theater, April 13–15.

News source: On the Edge: New Independent Cinema from China (Village Voice)

News tag: New York Independent

Related titles: The World (2004) The Orphan of Anyang (2001) Blind Shaft (2003) Walking on the Wild Side (2006)

Related persons: JIA Zhangke Wang Chao Li Yang (3) Han Jie