| SOUTH OF THE CLOUDS (2003) [6/10] and TIMBER GANG (2007) [7/10] |
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A change of pace for writer-director WEN Zhu after 2001's likeably rough-edged, DV-shot Seafood, South of the Clouds is the story of Qin (Zi Jin) a sixtyish widower who travels from his northern Chinese home to Yunnan, a factory-town where he'd worked several decades before. Here he finds himself immersed in reveries about the past - until a chance hotel-room entanglement with a desperate young women results in his becoming (unjustly) enmeshed in legal difficulties. Qin finds himself under luxurious and pricey house-arrest, as he's forbidden from leaving his accommodation until the matter is sorted... which could take months. As an allegory of modern China - where the notionally 'free' citizen is effectively as trapped as ever - the story is blunt but effective. And the sudden shift of gears after the hour mark certainly re-energises a movie that's previously been sometimes a little too reflectively gentle. Wen is pretty good at low-key, quirky drollness, though his picture does dribble away at the end when a more decisive climax might have been preferable. As a nicely-observed character-study with socio-economic subtexts, however, South of the Clouds is worth a look. Timber Gang, though much less slick and 'accomplished', is nevertheless more of a 'must-see'. A privileged peek into some exceedingly harsh lives in a snow-bound corner of the remote Heilongjiang province, it follows a band of lumberjacks as they venture into Black Bear Valley to obtain timber - the purpose of which is only revealed at the very end of the movie. Until then, the emphasis is very much upon old-fashioned physical labour - these are hardy men, who we presume are descendent from generations of even hardier individuals employed in the same manner. But where are the young apprentices? Who pays their wages? How much do they get? Answers, of a kind, are eventually delivered - but not before we've been fully immersed in the tough labour and the down-time activities (cooking, smoking, superstitious rituals) of the camp. Perhaps inevitably given the extreme conditions, technical aspects are often pretty basic: director Yu seems to be using low-grade video equipment, and there's a regular audio 'skip' which may offend purists. This isn't really a problem, however, and it's remarkable just how many moments of beauty and grace Yu manages to capture among the winter-wonderland surroundings - not that the timber gang themselves have much time to seek out delicate epiphanies. Such moments cushion the blow of the many sequences which are difficult and/or painful to watch - especially those involving wildlife, such as the trapping of a bird. The gang's horses, though valuable, fare little better - we don't actually any die on-camera, but there's no mistaking the punishing nature of the tasks they're expected to perform. Indeed, an end-title informs us that half a dozen died on the mountain during the course of filming - unsurprising, as there doesn't seem to be anything resembling a qualified veterinarian on hand. Medical expertise is also somewhat lacking, largely consisting of folk-remedies such as "cupping". We're a world away from the 'Health & Safety' dominated practices of the industrial west - where any logging automatically triggers concerns about the forests' sustainability. Timber Gang, by contrast, feels like a dispatch from a bygone age - though it's salutary to recall that working practices such as these are still extremely widespread across the globe. We just seldom get the chance to witness them unmediated and 'first-hand,' which is why documentaries like this are so absorbing and valuable. Neil Young 6.Sep.08 -------------------------------------------------------------------- South of the Clouds Yun de nan fang China 100m (BFI timing) director : Zhu Wen (Seafood.) editor : Jing Lei Kong (also Night Train, Platform, Still Life, etc) -------------------------------------------------------------------- Timber Gang Mu bang aka The Last Lumberjacks China 90m (BFI timing) director : Yu Guangyi (debut) editors : Yu Guangi & Wang Guosheng -------------------------------------------------------------------- both seen 29.Aug.08 London (BFI South Bank : public shows : complimentary tickets) with thanks to Kieron Corless
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