Unknown Pleasures
Picture:
C+ Sound: C+ Extras: D Program: B-
When a
feature length productions shot in the United States, I land up cringing at the
pretension and idiocy, and that extends to the Dogme movement overseas that is
almost dead. Unknown Pleasures (2002) was shot on Digital Beta, and comes from China.
Here, the choices on what to shoot and shoot on are much more
restrictive. The result is that you are
bound to get something more sincere like Jia Zhang-Ke’s work here.
It
involves a new generation of young adults under the shadow of the country
moving very, very slowly towards some Capitalism and other reforms that have
especially kicked in when the British gave Hong Kong back to China.
While all the changes are taking place, they are not necessarily
affecting everyone in any particular way, or especially direct way. That is where some of the comedy begins.
Since the
changes are slow, indirect and unexciting, how else are people who have had to
suffer under the largest remaining Communist regime supposed to act? Though they are not as stiff and uninspired
as an audience attending a visiting American or British Rock act’s concert tour
(think The Beatles, Paul McCartney, Billy Joel, U2), what the changes are
supposed to really do are dumbfounding under the circumstances. The early ideas of lotteries and consumer
products (winning American dollars for avidly consuming an alcoholic drink) are
still spare in a country that has a long way to go before these changes excite
anyone. That is where Bin Bin (Zhao Wei
Wei) and Xiao Ji (Wu Qiong) come into focus.
They are
unemployed teens who are also bored and pretty unimpressed with the changes so
far. The 2008 Olympics are six years
away, they live in the smaller area of Datong (versus well-known and big areas
like Shanghai and Beijing).
To fill in the space between what is supposedly on the horizon, they
forgo the Reality Principle and decide to try and rob a bank!
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.85 X 1 image off of the DigiBeta footage does not
suffer the kinds of artifacts and problems most lower-definition video formats
do when their image is placed on a DVD as this one is here. Zhang-Ke operated some of the camcorder(s)
himself, but previous camera collaborator Yu Lik Wai is the main shooter. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo is good for such
a production, and while this received a theatrical film release with Dolby SR
analog playback, there are no surrounds on this DVD. I doubt there were much, if any, on the 35mm
film prints considering how this was taped on location. Except for a few trailers to other New Yorker
DVDs, there are no extras.
In the
Cold War era, all the Communist propaganda spoke of the evils of decadence and
why everyone had to sacrifice to make a society go smoothly, a big lie we have
heard too much of in the United States since the events of 9/11/01. George Bernard Shaw’s observation that lack
of money was the root of all evil has never been truer. The interesting thing about Unknown Pleasures is it agrees, then
parallels a truth in all Capitalist countries that when the wealth is not
shared through practices that are beneficial to many, the society suffers. Much has been said about Russia starting Capitalism with its late
stages. This film offers China in a different position, not
exactly practicing it in the first place, yet letting it seep into the
society. Despite its simplicity and
limits, Unknown Pleasures may be an
interesting marker on where China stood in the scheme of things,
which is reason enough to catch it now.
- Nicholas Sheffo
