Jia Zhangke’s Cinematic Trilogy
Jia Zhangke’s Cinematic Trilogy
A Journey across the Ruins of Post-Mao China
This chapter examines Jia Zhangke’s “home” trilogy: Xiao Shan Going Home (1995), Xiao Wu (1997), and Platform (2000), which take a symbolic man’s journey across a ruined post-Mao China. The first shot of Xiao Shan Going Home is a wood block print that depicts a young man facing Mao’s portrait on Tiananmen, and in this print, the late chairman appears like a ghostly father figure to the bewildered youth. In an introductory sequence of Xiao Wu, however, the wandering protagonist’s theft on a bus is intercut with Mao’s portrait hanging at the driver’s seat. Here the irony is quite clear: without Mao’s guidance, the country has turned pathetically “lawless,” especially for the lost young generation that concerns the Sixth Generation directors. In a similar fashion, Platform begins with a stage performance titled A Train Traveling toward Shaoshan, meaning a pilgrimage to Mao’s birthplace.
Keywords: Jia Zhangke, post-Mao China, Mao Zedong, Xiao Shan Going Home, Xiao Wu, Platform
Hawaii Scholarship Online requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books within the service. Public users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter.
Please, subscribe or login to access full text content.
If you think you should have access to this title, please contact your librarian.
To troubleshoot, please check our FAQs, and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us.
