Film: Still Life
Director: Jia Zhangke
Country: China
Released: September 2006
Runtime: 108 minutes
Genre: Drama
Studio: Shanghai Film Studio, Xstream Pictures
Influenced: Wang Quan'an, Lou Ye, Wang Xiaoshuai, Diao Yinan, Chloé Zhao
Broadly defined as the "sixth generation" of Chinese filmmakers, directors such as Jia Zhangke departed from traditional storytelling techniques in the late 1990s, opting instead for a more documentary-like approach to cinema, with a particular focus on contemporary social issues and urban life. What elevates Zhangke's films to a higher plane is the way he also incorporates surreal dream sequences or moments of poetic realism, which provide an insight into the emotional states of the characters. Zhangke's breakthrough film was Platform (2000), which delves into the lives of a group of performers in a state-sponsored cultural troupe during the 1980s and 1990s, and another success was The World (2004), which is set in Beijing's World Park and explores the impact of globalisation on modern China. While many of his earlier "underground" films were made outside of China's state-run film bureaucracy, The World was Zhangke's first movie made with state approval, leading to a considerable rise in his domestic profile.
On one level, Still Life reflects on the consequences of rapid urbanisation on rural China, and more specifically the impact of the Three Gorges Dam project on various local communities. The film was shot in the town of Fengjie, which was soon to be submerged by the rising waters of the Yangtze River owing to the construction of the dam. In late 2005, I went on a 3-day cruise down the Yangtze from Chongqing, sharing a cabin with my wife and some friends from Glasgow. We stopped off in Fengdu Ghost City, which was tacky, weird and entertaining, but the highlight of the trip was the boat tour of the Three Little Gorges, especially the sense of being dwarfed by towering, perpendicular cliffs shrouded in mist. It was one of the few times we encountered wildlife in China and it was also moving to meet some of the people whose lives would be upended by the dam. As well as displacing 1.4mn people, the project also submerged two cities, 114 towns and 1,680 villages along the river banks, and Still Life is now a powerful historical document of the life that still existed there before the dam.
The narrative unfolds in two parallel storylines, following two protagonists who have come to Fengjie in search of their respective spouses. Han Sanming (playing himself), a coal miner from Shanxi province, arrives looking for his wife and daughter, whom he hasn't seen in over 16 years. Meanwhile, Shen Hong (Zhao Tao), a nurse from Shanxi, is searching for her estranged husband. The characters navigate the changing landscape of Fengjie as buildings are demolished and the town is slowly submerged, a powerful metaphor for the upheavals and transformations in the lives of the characters. The soundtrack of Still Life features traditional Chinese folk music, creating a melancholic atmosphere, while Zhangke's use of non-professional actors helps to capture a sense of authenticity. The film's title is a reference to the traditional painting style of mingxi, which depicts still life motifs, or little moments of stability in a rapidly changing world. The film features long takes and static shots, allowing the audience to immerse themselves in the environment and contemplate the effects of modernisation.
Still Life received critical acclaim, both in China and internationally, including winning the Golden Lion at the 2006 Venice Film Festival. Zhangke and his crew faced numerous challenges while shooting, including surveillance and interference, but the film was finally accepted by Chinese authorities and was shown uncensored both at home and abroad. Still Life's cinematography, by Nelson Lik-wai Yu, is masterful, capturing the grandeur of the Yangtze River and the desolate beauty of the flooded landscape. The film's reputation has continued to grow since, thanks to its sensitive portrayal of the human cost of large-scale infrastructure projects, and its masterful blend of realism and poeticism. Zhangke employs a documentary-like style in the film, blending fictional characters with real-life events. Since its release, the director has emerged as China's greatest contemporary filmmaker, garnering further critical acclaim with movies like A Touch of Sin (2013) – four interconnected stories about the injustices of China's economic system – and Swimming Out Till the Sea Turns Blue (2020), a documentary about memory, loss and the search for meaning in modern China.
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