Caught by the Tides

A woman travels across China to find her estranged lover in Jia Zhangke’s sweeping epic. Assembled from footage shot across two decades, Caught by the Tides offers a gripping story of obsessive love and a hypnotic portrait of a nation in transition.

Cinema master Jia Zhangke (Mountains May Depart, 2016, and Ash Is Purest White, 2019) remixes his rich back catalogue, assembling a mesmeric new feature from scenes shot across 22 years of filmmaking.

In the industrial city of Datong, Qiao Qiao (regular Jia collaborator Zhao Tao) struggles to make a living as a singer, model and night club dancer. When her manager and lover Guao Bin (Li Zhubin) abruptly moves away to pursue better economic prospects, Qiao embarks on a long journey to find him. As months turn to years, Qiao silently continues her search, while Bin becomes entwined with corrupt politicians and shady business deals.

Jia, one of the leading voices of the Sixth Generation directors in Chinese cinema, once again blends hyper-realist, semi-documentary style footage and durational long shots, with playful pop culture references and new media. When Covid-19 curtailed plans for his next feature, Jia returned to his archives, assembling Caught by the Tides mosaic-like from offcuts and curios: the result is an enigmatic and fresh film. It is fascinating and moving to watch the actors age in a sort of real time, as Qaio’s story of love and alienation unfolds against the backdrop of a nation undergoing profound economic and social transformation.

– Rachel Pronger

Trailer

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