Features

2009: The year in movies

By PETER KEOUGH | December 28, 2009

7. 24 City
Developers tear down a factory to build the complex of the title, tossing out the workers. It's a familiar scene, both here and in China, but Jia Zhang-ke shapes it into a cinematic poem about identity and loss. The stories of six of the ex-workers, as related by professional actors, are intercut with surreal images of the actual, Mao-era structure as it is torn down. In one sequence, tiny figures carry off the enormous Chinese characters from the sign over the gate; they look like leafcutter ants razing a tree. Jia matches his visuals with the reflexivity of his dramatized "interviews." A worker who is nicknamed "Little Flower" because she looks like the title character in the 1979 Zhang Zheng film is depicted by Joan Chen — who played Little Flower in the original movie.

< prev 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | next >

Related: , , , More

Topics: Features , Celebrity News, Entertainment, John Hillcoat, More

HTML Prohibited

Add Comment

Today's Event Picks

[FILM] "An Evening of Haitian Film & Video"

Plus 4 more >>

ARTICLES BY PETER KEOUGH

REVIEW: EDGE OF DARKNESS | February 02, 2010
A new genre is emerging in which aging A-list actors play fathers off on a rampage to rescue their daughters or avenge their deaths.

REVIEW: FROZEN | February 03, 2010
A storm is coming, the girl has to pee, and then things get much worse.

KAREN SCHMEER: 1970-2010 | February 02, 2010
Karen Schmeer, the brilliant local film editor whose work on Errol Morris's documentary The Fog of War helped win it the Best Documentary Oscar in 2004, died January 29 in a tragic accident, struck by a getaway car as she was crossing a street in Manhattan. She would have turned 40 on February 20.

IS THERE 'HOPE' IN HOLLYWOOD? | January 29, 2010
Buoyed by President Barack Obama's campaign slogan, many had hopes for change after his election.

REVIEW: WAITING FOR ARMAGEDDON | January 27, 2010
Much scarier than 2012 is this documentary about the death grip that fundamentalist religious groups have on American politics.

See all articles by: PETER KEOUGH

Most Viewed

Most Emailed

BAY STATE'S TOP LOBBYISTS
Nearly everyone in Massachusetts felt the pinch of the recession in 2009 — even Beacon Hill lobbyists had to tighten their belts.

J.D. SALINGER: 1919 - 2010
J.D. Salinger was 91 when he died in his New Hampshire home on January 27, 45 years after he published his last known story, "Hapworth 16, 1924," in the New Yorker .

IMPEACH JOHN ROBERTS
It is time for an enterprising and courageous member of the US House of Representatives to file articles of impeachment against the chief justice of the United States Supreme Court, John Roberts. The charge: lying under oath.

PHOTOS: MARIAH CAREY AT THE WANG THEATRE
Photos of Mariah Carey on her 2010 world tour

HOWARD ZINN: 1922-2010
Howard Zinn was a fearless revolutionary, but also a father-figure and family man.

HOW BIRDS GOT THEIR SONGS
Wakinyan RedShirt has made three films in his life: Lego Star Wars , Bionicle Heroes , and The Wolf Show . But perhaps his greatest flick, he says, is his latest.

BAY STATE'S TOP LOBBYISTS
Nearly everyone in Massachusetts felt the pinch of the recession in 2009 — even Beacon Hill lobbyists had to tighten their belts.

KAREN SCHMEER: 1970-2010
Karen Schmeer, the brilliant local film editor whose work on Errol Morris's documentary The Fog of War helped win it the Best Documentary Oscar in 2004, died January 29 in a tragic accident, struck by a getaway car as she was crossing a street in Manhattan. She would have turned 40 on February 20.