 |
| Poster (file photo) |
Top 6: Beijing Blues
"Beijing Blues," also known in Chinese as "Detective Hunter Zhang," is a movie about a policeman by Chinese director Gao Qunshu. The film is a bold take on Chinese modern society. It won the Golden Goblet Award for best director at this year's Shanghai International Film Festival and the Best Feature Film Award at Taiwan's Golden Horse Film festival.
"Beijing Blues" is based on true stories and real characters. It revolves around the life of Zhang Huiling, a Beijing detective known for his long tenure of investigating robberies, organized crime and fraud cases.
The movie assembles a group of amateur actors, most of whom are famous bloggers, writers, and poets, with publisher and writer Zhang Lixian playing the leading role of Zhang Huiling. Microblog enthusiasts should recognize many familiar faces in the film, including Wang Xiaoshan and Shi Hang.
The actors' approach, basically one of just being themselves, make the movie genuinely realistic and believable. You might even feel as if some of them are from your neighborhood. Not only microblog celebrities but also micro-blogging itself plays a part as the policeman in the movie is so obsessed with micro-blogging that they talk about it all the time.
The movie is shot as a quasi-documentary. A shaky camera follows the protagonist to many Beijing locations and portrays the city as it is: Loud, busy, crowded and dirty. It also shows a wide range of characters just as they are there in real life: Pickpockets, swindlers, farmers, street vendors and beggars, and so on. Moviegoers may find these characters reminiscent of someone they passed by on the street or saw on the bus. In this aspect, the movie keeps no distance from the audience because it shows them nothing but their everyday life.
On the surface the boldness is reflected in the dialogue. The characters do not only speak dialects and use a lot of foul language, but this type of language makes for a lot of funny and witty moments. This is, however, something other movies try to avoid in order to get the approval for release from film authorities.
Deep down, the director is bold enough to make a lot of social comments. The movie dwells upon the lives of ordinary people in a big city. Without any working skills, some people are forced to turn to petty crime in order to make ends meet. For other criminals, a big city serves as a gold mine for endless exploitation.
Although the movie stands out in many ways, there is a major flaw that cannot escape detection -- the one-dimensional portrayal of cops. Like most modern Chinese movies, it features good cops only. The movie does not show much of the protagonist's family life or emotions either, creating a relatively flat character.
Temperatures recorded since the end of November have marked the lowest to hit China in 28 years
Feedback
RSS
