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      Xiao Wu

      Released Feb 18, 1998 1h 53m Comedy Drama List
      100% 8 Reviews Tomatometer 87% 250+ Ratings Audience Score Trying to forget his troubles, a small-time thief (Hongwei Wang) visits a brothel and falls for a prostitute (Hao Hong Jian). Read More Read Less

      Critics Reviews

      View All (8) Critics Reviews
      Richard Brody New Yorker Jia's restrained yet fierce X-ray of the ills of modern China also evokes a calm, intimate tenderness for its struggling survivors. Oct 21, 2019 Full Review Andrew Bundy Projector of Feelings “Xiao Wu” very much feels like a first film, but one from a filmmaker whose talent is immensely clear, and ever present on screen Rated: 4.5/5 Sep 1, 2022 Full Review Yasser Medina Cinefilia In his debut, Jia offers a rather sober portrait of the lack of opportunity and misery in a small Chinese town that bears witness to the beginning of the capitalism-driven socio-economic transition. [Full review in Spanish] Rated: 7/10 Sep 15, 2021 Full Review Nathanael Hood Unseen Films As would become common in work, Jia's protagonist is an embodiment of a distinctly Chinese everyman, one overlooked and abandoned for the sake of progress. Rated: 8/10 Sep 29, 2020 Full Review Sean Burns Spliced Personality As will become his habit, Jia turns China's capitalist explosion into a reflection of the character's inner dislocation and finds strange solace in the cheesiest pop ballads imaginable. Sep 24, 2020 Full Review Film Threat Rated: 3/5 Dec 6, 2005 Full Review Read all reviews

      Audience Reviews

      View All (22) audience reviews
      freeson w Quiet and subdued, but never boring. Xiao Wu paints a profoundly bleak picture of a changing China that is leaving people behind. I can imagine, 1997's Xiao Wu foreshadows the many aimless men today that drift along in Chinese society. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review camille l Le premier film de Jia Zhang Ke, Xiao Wu Artisan Pickpocket, est formidable pendant une grosse heure. On y suit Xiao Wu, un jeune homme dans une petite ville chinoise être spectateur impassible du changement en cours dans son pays. Jia Zhang Ke ne se refuse rien et se permet donc de laisser sa caméra immobile pendant de longues minutes juste pour laisser le spectateur s'imprégner de l'atmosphère de ces scènes. Wang Hongwei, l'acteur principal, est parfait dans un rôle où il est de tous les plans, tandis que son love interest, Hoa Hongjian l'est tout autant. C'est alors extrêmement dommage que le film dure au moins 30 minutes de plus que ce qu'il ne devait durer et que le message du film s'étiole un peu. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member excellent debut from the then underground zhang ke jia, one of the most original filmmakers working today. the story of a young thief who stubbornly refuses to change against the backdrop of huge changes in china's economy. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/09/23 Full Review Audience Member You will witness the birth of truly amazing and artistic born-to-be director Zhang-Ke Jia in this film. He does not only bring back the aesthetics of Italian neorealismo but also bring it to the next level in the perfect place and time for it - the modern rural China. It is almost like a film that shows up out of nowhere in this continuum of time, and thus, it reminds you primitive pleasure of watching cinema again. So passionate and powerful. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 01/28/23 Full Review Audience Member This early work from director Jia Zhang Ke takes a look at contemporary China, the misery of everyday life, in which coping with reality while trying to keep a moral balance is the hardest thing to do. A subtle criticism of a corrupt and overcrowded society, striving to keep afloat. Good cinema. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/01/23 Full Review Audience Member No big shots. No fancy stories. Yet a great movie. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/22/23 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

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      Photos

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      Xiao Wu

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      Movie Info

      Synopsis Trying to forget his troubles, a small-time thief (Hongwei Wang) visits a brothel and falls for a prostitute (Hao Hong Jian).
      Director
      Zhang-Ke Jia
      Screenwriter
      Zhang-Ke Jia
      Production Co
      Hu Tong Communications, Radiant Advertising Company
      Genre
      Comedy, Drama
      Original Language
      Chinese
      Release Date (Theaters)
      Feb 18, 1998, Original
      Runtime
      1h 53m