A description of news reports on the earthquake in Sichuan, and a visit to a Shanghai nightclub...
Read MoreBeautiful Ugliness: The Aesthetics of Jia Zhangke's Film _Still Life_
I just showed the movie Still Life (sanxia haoren) by Chinese director Jia Zhangke to my Dartmouth FSP students. The viewing conditions were not ideal. I suggest to anyone who wishes to view this film that they do so in as dark a room as possible. The film itself is very dark, and so are the people. I mean visually dark, but there is also a darkness to the subject matter and the characters. Be warned, this is not a happy film.
Read More