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Jia Zhangke on Jia Zhangke is an extended dialogue between film scholar Michael Berry and the internationally acclaimed Chinese filmmaker. Drawing from extensive interviews and public talks, this volume offers a portrait of Jia's life, art, and approach to filmmaking. Jia and Berry's conversations range from Jia's childhood and formative years to extensive discussions of his major narrative films, including the classics Xiao Wu, Platform, The World, Still Life, and A Touch of Sin. Jia gives a firsthand account of his influences, analyzes the Chinese film industry, and offers his thoughts on subjects such as film music, working with actors, cinematography, and screenwriting. From industry and economics to art and politics, Jia Zhangke on Jia Zhangke represents the single most comprehensive document of the director's candid thoughts on the art and challenges of filmmaking.
List of contents
Series Editor's Preface / Carlos Rojas ix
Acknowledgments xiii
Introduction. From Fenyang to the World 1
1. A Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man 19
2. The Hometown Trilogy 46
3. Documenting Destruction and Building Worlds 87
4. Film as Social Justice 113
5. Return to Jianghu 133
6. Toward an Accented Cinema 157
Coda. To the Sea 182
Afterword / Dai Jinhua 193
Notes 197
Jia Zhangke Filmography 205
Bibliography 207
Index 211
About the author
Michael Berry is Director of the Center for Chinese Studies and Professor of Contemporary Chinese Cultural Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is the author, editor, and translator of several books, including
Jia Zhangke’s Hometown Trilogy,
A History of Pain: Trauma in Modern Chinese Literature and Film, and
Speaking in Images: Interviews with Contemporary Chinese Filmmakers.
