If you are looking for a plot or a strong narrative in this story, you will be disappointed. This film is an observation of a time in china where the economy is bad and how the youth in that time period is affected. Sometimes it feels like there is a plot but really there is no plot because nothing much is happening or going to happen. It reflects alot about the main characters in the movie, like they have a direction but in reality they don't know what they want and what they are doing. You know they are looking for some kind of freedom or pleasures to make them feel alive but then in the end they are desensitised.
There are no character arc in all the actors. They are a reflection of emptiness and loss in the society as the country is undergoing a lot of changes as shown through the TV shows and news broadcast. All the main characters have low self esteem and going through identity crisis. Torn between influences from the west, modernisation while still trying to grasp their conservatism. A small challenge of Xiao Ji kept trying to ride up the small hill with his motorbike shows that he needed some small goals in life to give him confidence.
The director connected very well the physicality of the space and characters showing the hopelessness in them, though not in the most exciting way.
I feel the film is very home-made, shot with camcorder or DV camera. I will very much prefer better lighting, colours and even sound. Many a times the audio from the TV overlaps with the actors's dialogue and I cannot catch the context of the dialogue. Overall I felt Director Jia Zhang Ke had captured very well the feelings of the youths during that time, the many silence, the many unspoken inner conflicts and frictions they are facing in their world. It is not entertaining but a very well informed film.
