49/39
Of course you have, if you’re over thirty-five, of course
Narrative
A Chinese woman lives for herself in silence, celebrating the prosperous Belle Epoque with song and dance. The female protagonist doesn’t have a single line of dialogue throughout the entire film. Have you ever bought a band’s album and found that instead of new material, there are old B-sides, remixes, and a couple of new songs for added value? Jia Zhang-ke’s “Caught by the Tides” is in many ways just that. But in doing so, he makes a statement about his career and, indeed, the changing face of the world around him.
Over the years, and across the country, she follows him
Qiao Qiao (Zhao Tao) shares a romance with Guao Bin (Zhubin Li), but he moves on, with Qiao Qiao following him. But once she gets there, perhaps what she wants isn’t for her. But the plot is actually irrelevant, as much of this has already been written and filmed over the years; now it’s just been reused. Scenes discarded from films like “Unknown Pleasures” (2002), “Still Life” (2006), and “Mountains May Depart” (2015), if I remember correctly. This allows for a realistic display of the two protagonists over time and their unequal aging.
Text messages on an old Nokia become TikTok videos on the latest smartphone
The scenes are, therefore, different, but very familiar, in what serves as a sort of retrospective for Jia’s work, in a more direct and better executed way than Takeshi Kitano attempted with “Takeshis” (2005). The problem with creating a film this way is that, while it’s perfectly serviceable as a narrative film, cramming in what you already have makes it a bit awkward in terms of flow. It feels more like a series of vignettes than a well-constructed piece of work. Having seen many of the films the discarded scenes like from serves to remind you of the original scenario, and so it doesn’t really feel like a single story, but several stories strung together. But there are some nice coincidences that materialize and allow Jia’s message to get through.
Jia is very tongue-in-cheek with his take on technology
TikTok fame is more about cheap advertising than real fame and fortune; and service bots can be easily confused with simple questions. Technology has played an interesting role in shaping the nature of human relationships, especially in the last twenty years. If you know Jia’s work, you’ll immediately recognize what’s going on here. But if you’re new to his work, this might seem like a slightly odd film that doesn’t quite fit together. Some scenes don’t seem to fit together; others were added as they became available.
Has life gone on for the last eighteen years?Politic1983homeblog
So this might require a bit of groundwork for the uninitiated, and it’s another thing for longtime fans. Though they might feel like they’re watching “Still Life” all over again.