Review of Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry (2012) by Christopher Llewellyn R — 14 Jan 2013

This was a fascinating documentary, about the internationally known dissident Chinese artist, Ai Weiwei. I knew nothing about him before watching the film. The movie follows him as he confronts the Chinese government, in 2009, over student deaths in an earthquake in Sichuan Province. We then find out about his background (son of an intellectual father who was persecuted during the Cultural Revolution), his studies and life in America in the 1980s, and his choice to return to China in the years after Tianenman Square. By the time we meet him, he has been exhibiting in the great galleries of the West, such as the Tate Modern in London. Though irreverent, he seems to be able to get away with provocations that his fellow dissidents do not, perhaps protected by his celebrity. It comes as a surprise (and a shock), then, when we find out, suddenly, shortly before the end of the film, that he has been "disappeared." Knowing nothing about him, I assumed that was it. And what an ending that would have been. But fortunately for him (and for the world), he resurfaces, a bit cowed and damaged, but alive. In the last few minutes of the movie, we see his old cockiness return. Hence the subtitle, "Never Sorry." As of October of this past year, he was again exhibiting internationally.

This is a strong year for documentaries - perhaps stronger than for narratives - and this one didn't make the Oscar cut. Too bad. It's worth watching. One learns a lot about the art of protest - literally and figuratively - and the specificity of the details we learn about this one artist lead us to a better understanding of some universal truths about the nature of oppression and resistance.