Platform

A film about ten years in the life of a Chinese theatre troupe. The narrative begins at the end of the 1970s. In Fenyang there is a state cultural troupe touring the villages with propaganda performances. The programme is folk songs and political sketches. Then the country changes. The troupe is privatised, its name changes, the costumes change, and the repertoire becomes something else: pop music, electric guitar, dance routines. The same people are now trying to sell something different. The film follows those ten years through four people. Nobody is rescued and nobody achieves anything large; lives slide quietly somewhere else. The form is distant. The camera stands back, the scenes are long and there are almost no close-ups. The talk is tangled with sound from radios, loudspeakers and televisions in the background. Zhao Tao and Wang Hongwei are in the cast. Jia Zhangke directed. It runs close to three hours. It was made without official permission and was shown abroad first. A foundational work for anyone who likes Chinese independent cinema and films about social change. For a viewer who wants pace, it is very long and builds no plot.