Once Upon a Time Proletarian

Portrait of post-Maoist China in twelve commentaries by inhabitants of the country. Each chapter starts with black-and-white shots of a small group of children reading anecdotes out loud one by one from a magazine. Together with the grander stories by, for instance, a peasant complaining about the current system, fish merchants, millionaires talking about Russian prostitutes and exchange rates, a park manager and hotel staff complaining about their hopeless lives, these texts sketch a varied picture of a China that is still developing very rapidly but in which there is not much room for individual needs. Anyone who isn’t merciless and selfish is left behind and has little else to do than complain and wallow in self-pity. The documentary is augmented with propaganda songs praising the former leaders Feng Lei and Mao, from a time when everything was better, or at least clearer – even according to some of the protagonists. Guo Xiaolu is a Chinese writer and film maker. She made Once Upon a Time Proletarian in the same year as the feature She, A Chinese.