24 City

Infobox Chinese Film
name = 24 City


amg_id =
imdb_id = 1103963
writer = Jia Zhangke
Zhai Yongming
starring = Joan Chen
Lü Liping
Zhao Tao
Chen Jianbin
producer = Jia Zhangke
Shozo Ichiyama
Wang Hong
director = Jia Zhangke
cinematography = Yu Lik-wai
Wang Yu | editing = Lin Xudong
Kong Jinglei
distributor = International:
MK2 Diffusion
France:
Ad Vitam
released = Cannes:
May 17, 2008
runtime = 107 min.
language = Mandarin
budget =
music = Yoshihiro Hanno
Lim Giong
awards =
tagline =
jianti = 二十四城记
fanti = 二十四城記
pinyin = Èr shí sì chéng jì

"24 City" (Chinese: 二十四城记/二十四城記; literally: "The Story of the 24 City") is a 2008 film directed and co-written by Chinese filmmaker Jia Zhangke. The film follows three generations of characters in Chengdu (in the 1950s, the 1970s and the present day) as a state-owned factory gives way to a modern apartment complex. The film was also known as "The Story of 24 City" during production. [cite web|url=http://chinafilmjournal.com/2008/03/26/the-world-is-not-enough-has-jia-zhangke-permanently-left-the-art-house/|title=The World Is Not Enough: Has Jia Zhangke Permanently Left the Art House?|publisher =China Film Journal|author = China Film Journal Staff| date =2008-03-26|accessdate=2008-04-26]

The apartment complex featured in the film is an actual development (also called "24 City") built on the former site of an airplane engine manufacturing facility. cite web|url=http://www.goodmagazine.com/section/Features/moving_pictures |title=Moving Pictures |accessdate=2008-05-01 |last=Jia |first=Zhangke |coauthors=Phil Tinari (translator) |work=GOOD Magazine ] Jia will also produce a documentary about the location.cite news | first=Min | last=Lee | coauthors= | title=Films focus on factory upheaval | date=2007-04-04 | publisher= | url =http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?we_cat=7&art_id=41614&sid=12999180&con_type=1&d_str=20070404&fc=4 | work =Associated Press | pages = | accessdate = 2008-05-01 | language = ]

The film's narrative style is described by critics as a blend of fictional and documentary storytelling, and it consist of five authentic interviews and four fictional scenes delivered by actors (but presented in a documentary format).cite web|url=http://www.screendaily.com/ScreenDailyArticle.aspx?intStoryID=38781|title=24 City (Er Shi Si Cheng Ji)|author=Dan Fainaru|publisher="Screen International"|date=2008-05-17|accessdate=2008-07-13]

"24 City" was in competition for the Palme d'Or at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival. [cite web|url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/awards_festivals/news/e3i2ebcd68bdc5ad9af6fd280ba545194fc|title=Cannes unveils Competition lineup|publisher="The Hollywood Reporter" |accessdate=2004-04-26|date=2004-04-23|author=Leffler, Rebecca]

Reception

The "Hollywood Reporter" called the film a "moving elegy to modern-day China" and described the film's documentary strain as "prevails to simple, yet emotionally reverberating effect". [cite web|url=http://www.reuters.com/article/reviewsNews/idUSN1846231420080519|title="24 City" a moving elegy to modern-day China|publisher="Reuters"/"Hollywood Reporter"|date=2008-05-18|accessdate=2008-07-13] [cite web|url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/asia/reviews/e3iac5edbea24551b653c03725194f1e18e|title=Film Review: '24 City'|publisher="Hollywood Reporter"|date=2008-05-21|accessdate=2008-07-13]

"Time magazine" reviewed the film favorably and described "the film interweaves the political overview — of a city institution being torn down to be replaced by commercial and residential buildings — with personal anecdotes that are poignant and charming." [cite web|url=http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1807446-2,00.html|title=Cannes Gets Real|publisher="TIME"|date=2008-05-17|accessdate=2008-07-13]

"Screen International" states "the latest chapter in Jia Zhangke's chronicles of modern Chinese history is certain to reinforce the director's status as an international arthouse icon."

The "New York Times" film critic Manohla Dargis gave the film a rave and stated "...the often amazing and intricately structured “24 City,” the latest from the Chinese director Jia Zhang-ke...shot in digital so sharp it looks hyper-real and projected digitally, the movie takes as its point of departure the closing of a state-owned munitions factory in southwest China..."cite web|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/19/movies/19cann.html?_r=1&scp=13&sq=Cannes+Film+Festival&st=nyt&oref=slogin#|title=Reality Rudely Intrudes in the Screening Rooms|publisher="New York Times"|date=2008-05-19|accessdate=2008-07-13] Manohla Dargis of the "New York Times" furthur states "Mr. Jia is one of the most original filmmakers working today, creating movies about a country that seems like a sequel."

Anthony Kaufman of "IndieWIRE" praised the film and states "Jia's masterful aesthetic remains consistent, mixing documentary and fiction with intriguing results." [cite web|url=http://movies.yahoo.com/mv/news/iw/20080518/121116826600.html|title=CANNES '08 NOTEBOOK | Desplechin's "Tale" Stands Out In Competition, "Three Monkeys," "24 City," Also Impress|author=Anthony Kaufman|publisher=Yahoo! Movies|date=2008-05-18|accessdate=2008-07-13]

J. Hoberman of the "Village Voice" described the film as "so meaningfully framed that it could have been shot by Andy Warhol or Chantal Akerman"cite web|url=http://www.villagevoice.com/2008-05-20/film/shots-in-the-dark/|title=The Cannes Film Festival Thus Far|author=Jim Hoberman|publisher=The "Village Voice"|accessdate=2008-07-13] , and called the film as one of the standouts of this year's films in competition at the Cannes Film Festival.

References

External links

* [http://www.festival-cannes.fr/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/10802550/year/2008.html "24 City"] at 2008 Cannes Film Festival
* [http://www.dianying.com/en/title/21044 "24 City"] at the Chinese Movie Database