Fengming, a Chinese Memoir

The so-called talking head shot is one of the most widely used forms in documentary and television. A talking-head documentary is even a label for a documentary that is not interesting in its form and is hence often less suitable for screening at a film festival. Master cinematographer Wang Bing however shows in this film that a radical choice for only talking heads can be very effective and impressive.
The film is named after the ubiquitous talking head He Fengming. Fengming, or Mrs He, lived through the whole of turbulent recent Chinese history. She wrote a book that is a document about the harsh life that did not only affect her focusing on one crucial year from that history: 1957, when moderate forces lost out in China.
The film maker gave the woman all the space she needed to tell her story, that is why the film has such a respectable length, being over three hours long. Wang Bing listened closely to the woman and also manages to make the viewer do the same. The simple form gradually even becomes a precondition to preserve the emotional power of the life story. For more Wang Bing in the festival, see the installation Crude Oil. (GjZ)