Platform by Jia Zhangke is a movie set in the 1980s which follows a group of performers who grew up in a period of cultural, social and economic changes in a small town China. Though it follows a loose plot, it contains a lot of episodes which portray the changes that took place during the time. These changes were not specific to performers, but the general public as well.
I found the movie really instrumental in gaining more insight into the lives of Chinese people during the period. The changes in clothing, hairstyles, music, and pop culture can clearly be seen in the movie. In fact, there are a lot of scenes which felt were explicitly added to focus on these things. A few examples include the scene where a man scolds Mingliang for wearing Bellbottoms, and one where Mingliang's friend who left the town comes back with a radio, introducing the people to the new pop music.
The change hugely affected the performers, who went from performing Maoist drama to "The All-Stars Rock 'n' Breakdance band". The film reveals the inhuman contract that the workers had to sign to get work, which disregarded the value of human life. The film also showed how seriously the people took the One Child Policy.
The style of the film is a mix of soothing in some parts and a little gloomy in others. The film is contemplative in nature, and I found it a little slow and less engaging in some parts, like spanning the camera across the city, and showing a man smoking a cigarette for about 20 seconds before cutting the scene. However, most of the other long shots actually gave the brain just enough time to think more about the preceding scene without losing attention, which includes most of the points I am writing. A few prolonged shots, especially ones with music, worked as a pleasant stimulus for the viewers emotional connect with the film, like one where Chang Jung does contemporary dance while a song plays on the radio. This style has the ability to invoke nostalgia in the audience, which is what makes it powerful.
A lot of economic changes in the lives of the people reminded me of stories I've heard from my parents. The arrival of electricity and later television, people going out more to restaurants, and increasing construction work. These changes were common to India as well. In fact, a crowd gathering in a room to watch TV reminds me of stories my mother tells me of her family owning the only TV in her village.
I believe that the film can serve as a nice time capsule for the period it is based on. Zhangke has given the audience an excellent piece of history to preserve.
I found the movie really instrumental in gaining more insight into the lives of Chinese people during the period. The changes in clothing, hairstyles, music, and pop culture can clearly be seen in the movie. In fact, there are a lot of scenes which felt were explicitly added to focus on these things. A few examples include the scene where a man scolds Mingliang for wearing Bellbottoms, and one where Mingliang's friend who left the town comes back with a radio, introducing the people to the new pop music.
The change hugely affected the performers, who went from performing Maoist drama to "The All-Stars Rock 'n' Breakdance band". The film reveals the inhuman contract that the workers had to sign to get work, which disregarded the value of human life. The film also showed how seriously the people took the One Child Policy.
The style of the film is a mix of soothing in some parts and a little gloomy in others. The film is contemplative in nature, and I found it a little slow and less engaging in some parts, like spanning the camera across the city, and showing a man smoking a cigarette for about 20 seconds before cutting the scene. However, most of the other long shots actually gave the brain just enough time to think more about the preceding scene without losing attention, which includes most of the points I am writing. A few prolonged shots, especially ones with music, worked as a pleasant stimulus for the viewers emotional connect with the film, like one where Chang Jung does contemporary dance while a song plays on the radio. This style has the ability to invoke nostalgia in the audience, which is what makes it powerful.
A lot of economic changes in the lives of the people reminded me of stories I've heard from my parents. The arrival of electricity and later television, people going out more to restaurants, and increasing construction work. These changes were common to India as well. In fact, a crowd gathering in a room to watch TV reminds me of stories my mother tells me of her family owning the only TV in her village.
I believe that the film can serve as a nice time capsule for the period it is based on. Zhangke has given the audience an excellent piece of history to preserve.