Independent Underground Filmmakers in China

Chinese Film Discussion

Independent underground filmsare rarelyfound in movie theaters. They can bestbe

sourced from the small-known film clubs in China’s big cities such as Beijing or film

critics and scholars’ living rooms. Independent and underground films in China are met

with contradictions and compromise. They arelooked uponas alternative, non-mainstream

films whose production is outside of state censorship. Such films also adopt alternative

aesthetics and trends intheir studio systems and production formats (Shuqin, 2006).

Jia Zhangke’s Films

Relationship to “the Truth”and “Reality” in Still Life

According to Jia, the best form of producing a film that his audiences can relate to is

through the merge of documentary truth and fictional truth. These two factors are what

make the human reality. Therefore, both should play a critical role in film production. In

Still Life, we see Jiacenter the film on apast documentary of the Three Gorges Dam that

isnow gone and mostly unrecognizable. As such,the truth lies in the landscapethat once

existed. The film then projects the reality of the landscape’s tremendous transition

detailingcommercial factors influencing China’s growing capitalism.The film also uses

historical materials to showcase the experiences of different Chinese people (Zheng &

Zhangke, 2013).

Use of Static Long Shots in Still Life

One prominent static long shot in the Still Life film is of Missy and Han Sanming as

they dawdle in a gutted building. Totheir left is a wide hole from thedemolition process

that exposes a vivid backdrop of the city. As a viewer, one can see through the gap in the

backgroundwall as oneof the large buildings falls, followed byrubbleand ash.

Considering the overall film plot, the long static shot gives a vivid convergence of societal