24 City Northwest Film Forum - Review

May 1, 9:37 AMSeattle Fine Arts ExaminerSteve Clare

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24 City Northwest Film Forum May 8-14

by David Wittstock

Jia Zhang-ke’s “24 City” documents 50 years of life in the Chinese industrial machine through the rise and fall of state-owned Factory 420. Under consideration for the Palme d’Or at last year’s Cannes Film Festival, “24 City” is told through the stories of nine people, some of them former workers and some of them family members, all of whom have worked or grown up in the factory in the Sichuan province of China.

Centering on an aeronautics facility in Chengdu, Factory 420 was, at its height during the early 60’s through the 80’s, a home and place of employment for thousands of workers and their families. But as the industry slowed in the late 1990’s the factory began laying-off large numbers before ultimately selling out to developers building a massive apartment complex.

Zhang-ke weaves real interviews in with measured, fictional accounts performed by some of the great actresses of modern Chinese cinema, Joan Chen, Lv Liping, and Zhao Tao. Among the highlights is Liping telling a mother’s heartbreaking story of losing her child while being relocated from her home and Chen as the aging “Little Flower” who was once the most sought after young beauty of the factory.

The interviews start with older people who grew up under the socialism of newly communist China to younger people who grew up after the market economy reforms of the late 70’s. Naturally, the two sides have differing viewpoints of what’s possible in their lives but part of the film’s success is Zhang-ke’s ability to honor the older generations who sacrificed so much as well as the younger generation who are more assertive in creating their own futures.

“24 City” is a poignant, relevant film on a country that’s rapidly changing.

“24 City” is playing at the Northwest Film Forum, May 8-14 with showings at 7 and 9:15pm, 1515 12th Ave.