Showing this weekend at the Venice Film Festival:
Once Upon a Time Proletarian, directed by Xiaolu Guo
Synopsis from Xiaolu's
website:
A subjective anatomy of contemporary China in the post Marxist era. With a dark, poetic and existentialist visual mind, the film shows people from different classes living in modern Chinese society.
12 chapters explore facets of Chinese social and political landscape. Stories of yearning, loss and dreams unfold: an old peasant who has lost his land, a millionaire chatting with his mate in a stock exchange office, a young migrant who came to the city to wash cars, a weapon factory worker who wishes Mao was still alive to save the country, a successful hotel owner who praises the government’s liberal economy policies, and young kids whose dream is to become famous western artists…
Lead by metaphoric comical and absurd children stories, each chapter conveys themes of trivial reality, despaired heart, lonesome youth, and uncertain future. This film contemplates a vast and complex society whose citizens are searching for new beliefs and identities after the country’s great revolutionary days, and demonstrates how the individual is conflicting with his time and history.
