Still Life

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dave d Jia Zhangke hits the right notes in the Chinese drama of lost and found, 'Still Life'. Two spouses look for their respective partners the old village of Fengjie. It's slow, but steady and thoroughly engaging. The one take approach certainly helps things feel authentic. Final Score: 8.0/10 Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Jia Zhangke is one of China's most influential director. Jia's camerawork in Still Life is constantly on the move, panning across men and vistas. Slow pans of men and landscapes marks the film's primary visual style. This style has been compared to the work of Italian film maker Michelangelo Antonioni. The story about the underdogs of Fenjie village (centers around 2 characters) as they struggle with urban displacement in the building of the Three Gorges Dam Project. The construction of the world's largest hydro-electric project ultimately benefits other villages more although it is the villagers of Fenjie who sacrificed most for it. The film premiered at the 2006 Venice Film Festival and was a winner of the Golden Lion Award for Best Film. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/28/23 Full Review Audience Member Jia Zhangke's STILL LIFE is a prime example of the effectiveness of observational filmmaking and how the weight of the subject alone (and its themes) can not only propel but impact the drama forward. Although it seemingly presents two separate narratives following two different characters traversing a bleak but exquisitely framed developmental atmosphere (small villages directly affected by the Three Gorges Dam project that make for cinematic locations), the film unfolds with care and precision by never forcing dramatic elements and allowing the viewers to learn, feel, and decide as they go; both characters go about their way with a sense of clustered urgency as we learn the ways in which the society has impacted their personal lives, relationships, and families - we know and see just as much as we need to (a credit to a superbly tight script). This is a film that rewards the viewer once the credit rolls - allowing the punch to reveal itself gradually as the grounded, painful, and raw message sinks in. It is, in fact, a devastating realization, and likewise a great film, that is bolstered by Jia's patient approach, unintrusive cinematography and storytelling, and bold commentary on a specific aspect of his country's real-life issues. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/24/23 Full Review Audience Member I'm going to rip on this movie so much, so first I'll talk about what I like. I like that it partially deals with a regional issue - a flood which has caused people to move out from the area in which the film takes place. I like the aspect of the two characters having the same quest - looking for somebody to finish unsettled business, though one is more successful than the other. Basically, the rest of the film was not captivating to me at all. There weren't really any memorable lines, and good lines are what people take away from films because words sometimes inspire us more than just the images within film even though film is a visual medium. There was a use of special effects at one point of this film, and I really did not understand its purpose at all. We see this certain structure a few times throughout the film (it is difficult to describe) and at one point, this structure randomly produces fire at its base and takes off like a rocket. It seemed so out of place for this movie, which seemed to deal with very real dramatic situations. Though I know art cinema deals with narration over narrative, the narration wasn't even worth the experience for this film (should I even call it an art film?) Maybe it's just me, but I really didn't relate to any characters in this film, it didn't look great visually, and there was no memorable dialogue in Still Life. While it dealt with dramatic situations this film was the antithesis of entertaining. If you're an avid film critic, give this a spin and prove me wrong, but you will hate this if you're looking for a good time. Rated 2/5 Stars •  Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/01/23 Full Review Audience Member For those interested, it's a Yimou style slow dramatized doc. Could've used a little something more but it has breath taking environments mixed with modern squalor. Interesting and meditative. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/30/23 Full Review Audience Member É por meio de seu belo "Em Busca da Vida" que o cineasta chinês Zhang Ke Jia efetua um sutil retrato da constante concentração das forças e anseios humanos em uma imagem idealizada da realidade coletiva e/ou particular - e para tanto o diretor ainda se utiliza de outro instigante retrato relacionado à condição econômica, social e cultural de seu país. Leia mais: http://cinema-mon-amour31.webnode.com/news/em-busca-da-vida-sanxia-haoren-de-zhang-ke-jia-china-2006-/ Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/10/23 Full Review Read all reviews

Still Life

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