Bitter and sweet look at two lives unfulfilled…
Selected to compete for the Palme D’or at Cannes this year, and losing out to Shoplifters, it demonstrates the high level of quality and how hard a time the judges must have in making a decision. This jianghu (gangster) drama, set in the small northern town of Datong, follows the romance between a small-time gangster Bin (Fan Liao) and his girlfriend Qiao (Tao Zhao). Against the backdrop of the social change manifesting since 2001, this two-decade story goes beyond romance and the deep ties of the jianghu code, becoming a parable for the relationship between the older traditions of China and the modernity that is inescapable.
The three acts are well defined, the first being the most accessible, ending with an act of violence that reverses the roles of Bin and Qiao and changes their relationship. The next two each pick up the story five years on, the last showing Qiao’s path going full circle, while Bin’s has been in decline, just like the old Jianghu traditions and feeling of brotherhood. The atmosphere in the mahjong room less kind and brotherly despite Qiao’s efforts and care.
The soundtrack is more of a soundscape, the original music with a resounding drumbeat that mimics a gunshot, the classic Sally Yeh Cantopop song Shallow Drunk Life from the John Woo gangster film The Killer, the piece A Man Should Better Himself music from Once Upon a Time in China (a historical martial arts classic about martial arts master and folk hero Wong Fei-hung) and a bizarrely contrasting YMCA by the Village People. Each feels carefully selected to make a point of the cultural references and history woven into the lives shown as though breath. Songs are repeated like a ideal that just doesn’t let go, they have meaning where they are placed, evoking emotion and pathos in the audience.
The muted colour palette of browns and ochres and rust reflect the dying industries of the north, even the three gorges shown in the second act feels muted, the vivid life and rich colour palettes of films such as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Zhang Yimou) have been forsaken for this realism, to not dress up China to please Western audiences, but show its human nature and its struggle. The production is a joint venture between France, China and Japan which reflects in the production, Photography and editing credits, but does not dilute the writing and directing from Jia Zhangke, nor the strong subtle performances from the two leads.
