Unknown Pleasures

A film set in a city in northern China whose industry has collapsed. Bin Bin and Xiao Ji are nineteen and out of work. Their days go on riding a motorbike, sitting in a pool hall and watching television. The factories have closed; their fathers' generation has been laid off. Xiao Ji becomes interested in Qiao Qiao, who dances at promotions for a liquor brand. She is attached to a man, and the interest is dangerous. Bin Bin has a girlfriend; she is preparing for the university examination and will leave. He tries to enlist and something turns up in the medical report. The film watches these two try to do something and watches each attempt go out. The narrative does not underline events; the camera stays back and the scenes are held long. The news of the period runs in the background: the Olympic bid on television, currency lotteries and an incident in the city. It was shot on digital video. That choice was about budget and method at once; the crew could work in the street without permits. Zhao Weiwei, Wu Qiong and Zhao Tao are in the cast. Jia Zhangke directed. The film played in competition at Cannes. An important production for anyone who likes contemporary Chinese cinema and slow narrative. For a viewer looking for plot, the film stands deliberately in the empty space.