Michelangelo Antonioni's "Chung Kuo"

July 11, 2011 7:53 PM

[Michelangelo Antonioni's Chung Kuo] as a documentary film was one which was draped with fascination for both filmmakers as well as an audience, rather than championing anti-whatever sentiments from either side of the world. Not having seen many movies, either features, shorts or documentaries made during the Cultural Revolution era or about that era in question (propaganda included), I think this Antonioni film has more than made its mark as a definitive documentary that anyone curious about the life of the time, would find it a gem to sit through.
posted by Trurl (3 comments total)

Thanks for digging this up!
posted by not_that_epiphanius at 6:56 AM on July 12, 2011

I bought a DVD copy of it in Shanghai and it was so badly encoded that it was worse than watching WWII news footage they show you in the background of old war movies. Thank you for the link!
posted by of strange foe at 8:23 AM on July 12, 2011

Having just watched this clip, comparing it against the China of today is quite striking. I've traveled extensively in China in the last 10 years and, while finding it less and less... you still see villages where it appears life has not changed all that much. But - glimpsing the Forbiden City, you know this is no village, but smack dab in the center of Beijing. Amazing. It's all cars now!
posted by msamsel at 2:48 PM on July 12, 2011