Shanghai 1976 - dir Hu XueYang ***half
After 12 years of waiting Hu XueYang's master piece was projected at Champs Elysee Lincoln.
Beautiful film w Love. "I love you", murmured softly from a man to his woman recorded on tape in multiple tongues, censored, punished, anyone linked to this thought and act are tortured in fear.
The censorship has created inhuman nonsense at every level of life in order to remove independant thinking, so the country has unlimited human ressources, docile, simple ant like workers living in mutual surveillance, suffering perpetual injustice (which probably is still ongoing in some parts of contemporary china?), 24/7 fear self surveillance even in sleep.
The film also presents how women are always getting the short end of the stick. The elder daughter (metis american and chinese) was in XinJiang where she had to sleep with hundreds of men who promised to help her go back to Shanghai but zero promise kept. (Like the "XiuXiu the sent down girl" a film by Joan Chen). This theme was a big taboo. Joan Chens film was also censored almost forever.
But why this story has to be told in this elipsed way? Because even today it continues ~ not only in XinJiang but the formula has mutated to so many other forms. What is the recent FanBingBing story? The BaiLing story? The Liu XiaoQing story? Where is beauty, love, universal love and justice?
The film's ending in a young metis (part french part chinese) girl who is evidently innocent - and only she - could give birth to a totally unblemished new world. The film has many details that builds the world of 1976 ~ culmination of three historical turning points: the passing of Mao, Zhou and Tang Shan earthquake. They point to a historical change of people and places.
The young metis girl all innocent, an athletic wonder, strong energetic, kind, fearless, she refused to end the new life and hope growing in her ~ even though or especially because of the fact that she doesnt know anything about having babies - its an act of courage and faith.
This character has to be a virgin. Somebody who is a beginning, all fresh and new, beautiful inside and outside. Innocent but full of confidence and positive dreams.
