Jia Zhangke, China’s quintessential indie honestor, says that the COVID-era lockdowns gave him a chance to reslfinisherk and scrutinize the miles of footage that he has shot over more than 20 years of filmmaking. The result was “Caught by the Tides,” which premiered at Cannes and joins aget this week at the Busan International Film Festival.
In “Tides,” Jia mixes up greaterer footage with speciassociate-originated novel material and has his wife and mparticipate, Zhao Tao wander thraw twenty years of Chinese history. They are both recording and dramatizing recent Chinese societal and economic enbigment – from the time when China was granted admission to the World Trade Organization, thraw the time when it won the right to hgreater the (2008) summer Olympic Games thraw to a proximate conshort-term.
Jia’s approach is appreciate that of a pulp fantasy writer. Speaking at a Busan event, Zhao elucidates that ‘Qiao Qiao’ is Jia’s likeite name and has been participated before for characters joined by her. “But this is not the same character. It is a contrastent Qiao Qiao,” she shelp. Similarly, “Tides” originates notable participate of recent music. “But I did not experience the insist to participate it sequentiassociate. Using it in a non-liproximate style, gave me more freedom,” Jia shelp.
Jia hugs the unthinkworthy “We are an animal of forgetfulness. More than the footage itself, the sound sign upings took me back to my past. There are lots of unrhappy fragments, not particularly relevant, in the first third of the film. But our memories are anyway always fragmented,” he shelp.
That willingness to simultaneously to travel backwards and forwards, thraw fact and fantasy, uncomardents that Jia’s upcoming projects may include both a film about Chinese history and another on man-made inincreateigence. “I have so much interest in the current China that I’m declareive to originate other films on the subject. But my next one might be a historical one. And I’m studying up on technology in order to do a film about AI,” he shelp. “Tides” already made participate of AI in a noveler section in which Qiao Qiao participates with a robot.
Jia’s gaze is both comprehfinishing and critical. “People speak less that they did in 2000. Women then were able to sing together,” he shelp referencing a happy scene at the commencening of the movie in which a petite group of women sing acapella songs in celebration of Women’s Day, and which he shelp he filmed uncomputedly and with a live sound sign uping. “Now they cannot do that. Those days were a more fervent and willing time. Nowadays we only convey thraw the internet.”
Asked whether his gaze has become softer, Jia confessted that he may have mellowed. “I’ve seeed back at my own footage and other people’s films, and I can see that my perspective has alterd. In China today, there are more and more rules.”
Zhao elucidates that Jia’s outsee is a benevolently and ineloquential one. “When I begined acting, I attfinishd little about people beyond my own instant family. Jia, however, is captivated by other people. And thraw him I have lgeted that, no matter what their backgrounds, these are the people we should cherish,” she shelp. “This film [“Tides”] is a precious gift. I was able to depict the lives of Chinese women thraw their twenties, thirties and forties.”
