In A Nutshell: Epic is a much-overused word, but Wang Bing’s three-part documentary about a decaying post-industrial, post-socialist Shenyang district absolutely earns it.
Why You May Have Missed It: It’s nine hours long.
Why Missing It Is Mad: It’s really a watershed piece of work - or at least it would be, had it been widely released in its semi-digestible three-chunk format.
To make it, Bing simply wandered alone through the rubble-and-rust-strewn streets of the province with a borrowed, handheld DV camera, amassing over 300 hours of footage focusing on the knackered skeletons of old factories and the amazingly resilient, sometimes amazingly dishevelled people who eke out a paltry living among their remains.
It’s intimate, utterly unsentimental and never pushes the film-maker’s own agenda, which makes for a genuinely revelatory viewing experience. If you’ve got a weekend to kill, that is.
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Comments
Hadouken76
Dec 11th 2009, 15:39
id like to add that zatoichi, twilight samurai, dirty pretty things, in search of a midnight kiss, dead mans shoes to that list and even though it came out in 1998 i still think legend of 1900 is an underated gem
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sjsmith88
Dec 11th 2009, 18:28
I didn't miss You and Me and Everyone We Know, I caught it. Wish I hadn't. Following your 4-star review I had it in my head that I was in for a pleasant little indie. Instead it was your run-of-the-mill pretentious art-house rubbish. Dreadful.
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skinjob
Dec 12th 2009, 8:38
I'd like to add taxidermy - not a pleasant film to watch by any stretch of a twisted imagination but worth watching for the second and third acts on its own and the climactic scene is one that will stay wih me for a long time! if swallowed - do not induce vomiting!!
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namedropper
Dec 13th 2009, 14:24
We call them Neds and not Chavs up our way and I thought Sweet Sixteen was mainly set in Greenock and not the Port! Anyway I'd like to add Dear Frankie as a movie also set in the same area. Cracking performances from all concerned but especially the child playing Frankie. Will bring a tear to your eyes! Still hoping that Gerard Butler and Emily Mortimer will get together at some point!
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domduck
Dec 14th 2009, 11:21
The Year of the Dog should be in here - and Waitress. The perfect hangover double-bill.
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