Pickpocket

Jia Zhangke's first feature. Xiao Wu is a pickpocket in a small city called Fenyang. He considers himself a craftsman, takes care over his suit and his glasses, and treats what he does as a trade. But the city is changing. His old friend has grown rich on the cigarette trade and karaoke halls, counts as a businessman now, and does not invite Xiao Wu to his wedding. The council is demolishing the old neighbourhoods. The police launch a campaign against crime. What the film describes is that transition. At the end of the 1990s the way money is made in China changes, and someone still working by the old methods is suddenly left outside. The narrative is in three parts: friendship, love and family. In all three Xiao Wu is excluded. It was made on a very small budget, in real locations and with non-professional performers; street noise, television and loudspeaker announcements are part of its texture. Wang Hongwei, in the lead, was the director's classmate at film school. It was not made with official permission in China and the director had trouble for a time. An important starting point for anyone who likes Chinese independent cinema and realist storytelling. For a viewer expecting pace, the film is slow and builds almost no plot.