Review of Unknown Pleasures (2002) by Emilio A — 24 Apr 2004
Written and Directed Zhang Ke Jia.
[b]Genre[/b]: Comedy/Drama.
[b]MPAA[/b]: not rated.
[b]Runtime[/b]: 113 minutes.
[b]Plot Summary[/b]: Two unemployed Chinese teenagers have trouble resisting the temptations of the Western world. - IMDB.
This movie is one of those that basks in the fact that it is an art house flick. It utilizes extremely long takes, but I do not feel as if they were effective. It was slow, and you couldn't really get too involved with the characters. Maybe I am just out of the Chinese loop, but this film could have been 5 minutes long - seriously. Unlike Gus Van Sant's [i]Elephant[/i] or Larry Clark's [i]Bully[/i], who also use long takes and deal with troubled youth, [i]Unknown Pleasures [/i]doesn't really seem to do anything. It has some funny repetitive scenes, but they don't make the film worth watching.
If you like [i]Unknown Pleasures[/i], you might also like...
- [i]Gummo [/i](Harmony Korine, 1997) - Gummo is a sad tale about a town that never fully recovered from a giant tornado. - IMDB.
- [i]Bully [/i](Larry Clark, 2001) - Naive teenagers plot to murder one of their own, who has been too much of a bully to them. - IMDB.
This review of Unknown Pleasures (2002) was written by Emilio A on 24 Apr 2004.
Unknown Pleasures has generally received positive reviews.
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