24 City

24 City shows the influence the rapid transition of China has on the individual. Based on a state factory due for demolition, Jia Zhang-ke reconstructs 50 years of Chinese social and economic history. Unlike his previous work focusing on contemporary China and making widespread use of long, meditate shots, 24 City primarily emphasises the collective past and the spoken word.
When narrating history, the boundary between fact and fiction can easily fade. Jia Zhang-ke emphasises this by allowing us, in five authentic and four fictional interviews, to become acquainted with the protagonists, who describe in long monologues their memories of the factory. Thanks to the fictional interviews, the film acquires a greater aesthetic and emotional element. The choice was made to use famous Chinese actresses, including Lu Liping, Zhao Tao and Joan Chen. The interviews are juxtaposed with the beautifully-shot demolition of the factory: the Chengdu Engine Corporation. The factory was founded in 1958 for the production of aircraft engines and is best known under the military codename Factory 420. The site changed into a small community, including a school and cinema. Now luxury apartments and a theme park are being built, using the name 24 City. (IdL)