Caught by the Tides

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Michael K Flat out dull. Sorry Rated 0.5/5 Stars •  Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 06/23/25 Full Review Persona M PCC money movie, previsible, without soul Rated 0.5/5 Stars •  Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 06/13/25 Full Review Stephen C Success in 1 hour and 51 minutes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! In Chinese and American English audio versions with American English subtitles!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 07/15/25 Full Review Robin C “Caught by the Tides” Qiao Qiao (Tao Zhao) and Bin (Zhubin Li) live a happy life in a northern China city. He leaves her to find new opportunities near the Three Gorges Dam project far away and promises to send for her when he earns enough money. He never does and she journeys far to find him in “Caught by the Tides.” This “story,” if you can call it that, is actually a compilation of bits and pieces of director Jia Zhang-ke’s films from the last 20+ years. At the center of the film’s plot is Qiao Qiao, the silent woman who never utters a word, searching for her true love. Except, for her, it is a case of be careful what you search for, it might not be what you think you want. This loosely structured “search” is punctuated with the ongoing progress of the Three Gorges project. Over the course of the 20 years of film, we see it develop and devour the cities that it submerged. It is an odd look at a specific place in the current Chinese culture as the director’s cameras show montages and visual tapestries of the lives of the people in northern China. It is a look of life very different from my own, making for an immersion in another world. Tao Zhao, as the silent, searching woman, is a constant presence throughout the film and we watch the two main actors age over the years. The time lapsed seems to have graced Zhao more than her co-star Zhubin Li. I am impressed by the amount of emotion Zhao displays, without words, making her quiet performance fascinating to watch, though not for everyone. Over the course of the two plus decades of filming, things progress at a normal pace, until 2020 and COVID-19. Then, we see the world in China change dramatically. The whole work is a tapestry of Chinese culture spanning decades and Jia Zhang-ke compacts it all into a tight 111 minutes with song and dance playing prominent. B Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 06/06/25 Full Review LABEL 2 表现疫情时期的影像感受得到导演对时代的理解力，走走停停回顾私人历史的部分则完全不知所云。对大时间跨度叙事的迷恋或许已成负担，漫长的聚焦并不真的比其他形式更有价值。 Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 06/02/25 Full Review Lesley H If I could give 0 star I would Rated 0.5/5 Stars •  Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 05/31/25 Full Review Read all reviews

Caught by the Tides

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