Zhantai (2000)

Director:

Zhang Ke Jia

Writer:

Zhang Ke Jia (writer)

Release Date:

2 August 2001 (Netherlands)

Genre:

Drama | History

Plot:

Set in Fenyang, Shanxi Province, the film focuses on a group of amateur theatre troupe performers whose...

Plot Keywords:

1980s

Awards:

6 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Hongwei Wang	...	Minliang
Tao Zhao	...	Ruijuan
Jing Dong Liang	...	Chang Jun
Tian Yi Yang	...	Zhong Pin
Bo Wang	...	Yao Eryong
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Sanming Han	...	Sanming

Also Known As:

Platform (France)

Runtime:

154 min | Italy:193 min (Venice Film Festival) | Japan:185 min (Tokyo FILMeX 2000)

Country:

Hong Kong | China | Japan | France

Language:

Mandarin | Shanxi

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

UK:12 | Argentina:13 | France:U | Portugal:M/12 | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud)

Filming Locations:

Fenyang, China

Company:

Artcam International

Trivia:

Chosen by "Les Cahiers du cinéma" (France) as one of the 10 best pictures of 2001 (#06)

Movie Connections:

References Feng gui lai de ren (1983)

brilliant chronicle of two decades of economic liberalization

Platform ("Stage" might be a better translation)shows us the lives of a troupe of actors as China went from Maoism to markets, from 1980 to the 1990s. The treatment is sardonic and distant; we rarely see anyone in a closeup, and the point of view is as critical of liberalization (embodied in bad rock and go-go dancing) as it is of the cult of Mao (performed in the hilarious socialist-patriotic opera at the beginning of the movie). As Fassbinder said of the movies of Douglas Sirk, material objects--a brick wall, a pile of boards, a marketful of cheap clothing, bowls of noodles, embroidered slipcovers, copies of bellbottom pants, a truck, etc.--are at the center of the mise en scene, appropriately so, since the story is indeed about material changes. In fact the movie bears a lot of resemblance to Fassbinder's Marriage of Maria Braun, as both trace growing prosperity, consumerism, and personal alienation through a sequence of rooms, houses, relationships, and home furnishings. Provincial China moves from dirt, scarcity, and collectivism to a modest supply of consumer goods and more individual freedom/insecurity. This historical movement is intertwined with the characters' aging from their teens to middle age. There is no appreciable increase in human joy and happiness, nor a marked decrease either. This cold, distant treatment will not please some viewers.