By Louise McLeod Tabouis.
Director Jia Zhang-ke’s eighth feature film, selected in competition for the Palme d’Or at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival, begins with a brilliant blast from the Pet Shop Boys 90’s anthem ‘Go West’. A group of friends, led by Shen Tao (Zhao Tao) dance and celebrate the new year and beginning of 2000. What appears to be a story of friendship in three chapters, spanning 25 years and based in a coal-mining town in provincial northern China – is not all it seems.
Glowing and constantly joyful Tao, surprisingly attracted by the wealth, security and possibilities offered by Zhang Jinsheng (Zhang Yi), an aggressive and conceited young entrepreneur, is forced to discard her good and loyal boyfriend Jianjun (Liang Jingdong), a kind and unpretentious miner, with few prospects. A series of unsubtle metaphors later – a crashed and burning plane, loss of mother-tongue language, exploding dynamite – and Tao rapidly loses that endearing shininess.
The relationship between Tao and her son provides the richness and heart of this film, as well as some of the best dialogue. The reconnection and brevity mark these scenes of attachment and loss as Tao grows closer to her estranged 7-year-old son before farewelling him. The gift of a set of house keys as he leaves her, hang around his neck, providing him with a way back to the memory of a mother whose name he can’t, or pretends not to remember; a beautiful and incredibly sad moment.
“The hardest thing about love is caring”, stated by one character, aptly sums up this thought-provoking story. One of disconnection and disappointment, symbolising the loss of family connection and the rise of capitalism in China, and featuring the magnificent Zhao Tao.
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