Perfect Life (film)
Encyclopedia
Perfect Life is a 2008 Chinese-Hong Kong film by Emily Tang and produced by director Jia Zhangke
(who received a co-producer credit) and his company, Xstream Pictures
. The film mixes elements of dramatic fiction and documentary film.
, Perfect Life had relatively high profile screenings at a variety of major international film festivals. Its international premiere, for example, was during the 65th Venice Film Festival, as part of the side program, "Horizons." Perfect Life also competed in the Asia-focused Dragons and Tigers
program in the 2009 Vancouver International Film Festival
, a program which it won due to "the way it captures the harshness of Chinese reality through its fictional protagonist, and for the subtlety of its wonderfully free storytelling," according to the award jury. The film also captured the "Golden Digital Prize" at the Hong Kong International Film Festival.
, along with Jia's own Cry Me a River
. The decision by Jia was due to the Melbourne Film Festival's decision to air a documentary film
, The 10 Conditions of Love, about the Uigher advocate, Rebiya Kadeer
, who is a highly controversial figure in China. In a letter to the festival's organizers, Jia stated that pulled both to protest against Kadeer's attendance of the event. A third film, the Chinese documentary Petition, was also withdrawn due to the controversy.
, called it "rote, anomie-heavy" and ultimately a "step back after Tang's promising 2001 debut, Conjugation. While an Asian-cinema focused academic magazine found the film's mix of drama and documentary elements to be an unsuccessful stylistic choice. A similar review came from The Hollywood Reporter
, which also questioned the mix of the documentary film story starring the real Jenny Tse, and the fictional story starring Yao Qianyu, noting that the film fails is that the audience "never quite understand the connection between the two."
The film did have its champions, however. Some found the film's style far more palatable and one reviewer listed it as one of the top independent and foreign films from 2008.
Jia Zhangke
Jia Zhangke is a Chinese film director. He is generally regarded as a leading figure of the "Sixth Generation" movement of Chinese cinema, a group that also includes such figures as Wang Xiaoshuai and Zhang Yuan....
(who received a co-producer credit) and his company, Xstream Pictures
Xstream Pictures
Xstream Pictures is a Chinese production company based out of Beijing and Hong Kong that was founded by filmmakers Jia Zhangke, Chow Keung, and Yu Lik-wai. Formed in 2003, the company's first production was Jia's own The World...
. The film mixes elements of dramatic fiction and documentary film.
Release and screenings
With the backing of the established director, Jia ZhangkeJia Zhangke
Jia Zhangke is a Chinese film director. He is generally regarded as a leading figure of the "Sixth Generation" movement of Chinese cinema, a group that also includes such figures as Wang Xiaoshuai and Zhang Yuan....
, Perfect Life had relatively high profile screenings at a variety of major international film festivals. Its international premiere, for example, was during the 65th Venice Film Festival, as part of the side program, "Horizons." Perfect Life also competed in the Asia-focused Dragons and Tigers
Dragons and Tigers Award
VIFF Dragons and Tigers Award for Young Cinema is an award from the Vancouver International Film Festival for a film director from Asia-Pacific region. It awards a creative and innovative film, made early in the director's career, which has not yet won significant international recognition...
program in the 2009 Vancouver International Film Festival
Vancouver International Film Festival
The Vancouver International Film Festival is an annual film festival held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada for two weeks in late September and early October...
, a program which it won due to "the way it captures the harshness of Chinese reality through its fictional protagonist, and for the subtlety of its wonderfully free storytelling," according to the award jury. The film also captured the "Golden Digital Prize" at the Hong Kong International Film Festival.
Melbourne controversy
Perfect Life was subject of some controversy in 2009 when it was pulled by Jia from the Melbourne International Film FestivalMelbourne International Film Festival
The Melbourne International Film Festival is an acclaimed annual film festival held over three weeks in Melbourne, Australia. It was founded in 1951, making it one of the oldest in the World....
, along with Jia's own Cry Me a River
Cry Me a River (film)
Cry Me a River is a 2008 short film directed by Chinese filmmaker Jia Zhangke. The film is a romance based around the reunion of four college friends and lovers after ten years. The leads are played by Jia regulars Zhao Tao and Wang Hongwei, and Hao Lei and Guo Xiaodong, who starred together in Lou...
. The decision by Jia was due to the Melbourne Film Festival's decision to air a documentary film
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
, The 10 Conditions of Love, about the Uigher advocate, Rebiya Kadeer
Rebiya Kadeer
Rebiya Kadeer is a prominent Uyghur businesswoman and political activist from the northwest region of Xinjiang Autonomus Region of the People's Republic of China...
, who is a highly controversial figure in China. In a letter to the festival's organizers, Jia stated that pulled both to protest against Kadeer's attendance of the event. A third film, the Chinese documentary Petition, was also withdrawn due to the controversy.
Reception
Despite its win at Vancouver, the film received mixed reviews from western critics. Derek Elley of the industry magazine, VarietyVariety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
, called it "rote, anomie-heavy" and ultimately a "step back after Tang's promising 2001 debut, Conjugation. While an Asian-cinema focused academic magazine found the film's mix of drama and documentary elements to be an unsuccessful stylistic choice. A similar review came from The Hollywood Reporter
The Hollywood Reporter
Formerly a daily trade magazine, The Hollywood Reporter re-launched in late 2010 as a unique hybrid publication serving the entertainment industry and a consumer audience...
, which also questioned the mix of the documentary film story starring the real Jenny Tse, and the fictional story starring Yao Qianyu, noting that the film fails is that the audience "never quite understand the connection between the two."
The film did have its champions, however. Some found the film's style far more palatable and one reviewer listed it as one of the top independent and foreign films from 2008.
External links
- Perfect Life at the Chinese Movie Database