Review of Chung Kuo: China (1972) by Iana D — 02 Jun 2011

Italian master filmmaker Michelangelo Antonioni was invited by the Chinese government in 1972 to make a documentary on the country, hoping to have him produce a good piece of propaganda in the midst of the Cultural Revolution.

He went, was guided around, not left free to roam. And yet he produced a subtly subversive document. Antonioni looked, observed, watched, and: he saw. He filmed people as they were, life as it presented itself to him.

We see a baby being born by caesarian cut under acupuncture-induced anaesthesia, children getting educated/indoctrinated, families and friends sitting together, an illegal market, miserable villages in Henan, people working in the fields and factories, people walking, riding bikes, practicing tai chi, people reacting to the camera in Beijing, Nanking, Suzhou, people drinking tea in Shanghai.

The picture of China this conveyed was simply human. The documentary was all but flattering - this is not the imagined Communist paradise one gets to see! So the film was banned for 30 years. If you are interested in China and can lay hands on this DVD, do grab it and watch it! This is an amazing historical document.

China has changed so much since then! You'll probably also find this is a beautiful piece of art. Antonioni's 6th sense, grasping beauty, the unsaid and the absurd at the same time makes this document his signature: the film ends with a long silent epilogue showing an acrobats' show in Shanghai.