Berlin Review: Swimming Out Till the Sea Turns Blue Finds Jia Zhangke Returning to the Waves of Time
Of all the monumental parts that tend to constitute the films of Jia Zhangke–the shifting socio-economic landscapes; the departing mountains; Zhao Tao–none has been as prevalent or essential as time. He is a director with one eye on the then and one eye on the now (and occasionally one on the future).
Time is once again key to his latest work, a documentary titled Swimming Out Till the Sea Turns Blue, in which Jia uses both the writings of Ma Feng and a series of interviews with celebrated authors from his native Chanxi to cast an eye over China’s shift from rural to urban living; the implications of that change if not the more state-censorship-sensitive aspects. The mood, as ever, is one of reminiscence.
The interviews feel largely unedited, almost rambling at times, showing the manner in which writers speak about the past and not how they write about it.
Time is once again key to his latest work, a documentary titled Swimming Out Till the Sea Turns Blue, in which Jia uses both the writings of Ma Feng and a series of interviews with celebrated authors from his native Chanxi to cast an eye over China’s shift from rural to urban living; the implications of that change if not the more state-censorship-sensitive aspects. The mood, as ever, is one of reminiscence.
The interviews feel largely unedited, almost rambling at times, showing the manner in which writers speak about the past and not how they write about it.
- 2/22/2020
- by Rory O'Connor
- The Film Stage
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