I Wish I Knew

Best film from Jia in recent years. A larger theme spanning over centuries during the modernisation of China. Interviewed many people who talked about their parents' tales during the Second World War and the Chinese Civil War. I can probably talk as much as my parents were of that generation.

Most interviewees are representative of the time they spoke of, be it the inter- or civil war years, the cultural revolution, the great leap forward or the open door era starting from late â~70s. Yet, the film is not capable of adequately capturing the rapid socio-political changes and how such changes have derailed the fate and impacted existential conditions of most Chinese, if it is director Jia Zhangkeâ(TM)s intention. While Jia was commissioned by Shanghai authorities to produce this documentary, I trust that he was not compromising his conscience in art for the purpose of publicising the 2010 expo. It is exciting to see the people including some who have become of the history shared their affection and first-hand experience in those turbulent days and troubled times. No matter how solid their background was and how much they loved the country, he or she had inevitably drowned in the mighty current of the times, and suffered. I Wish I Knew is a documentary slightly âdramatizedâ? by whom it had interviewed, making it an alternative to Jiaâ(TM)s other simple and unadorned films for the ordinary people. Hope this forms a good transition for Jia in moving forward to subject matters and genres he is concerned most.

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The (mostly twentieth-century) history/life of Shanghai, told by/through some of its noteworthy inhabitants/participants or their offspring, and some of its films. There's no doubt that the bourgeoisie/nationalists/fascists/capitalists are shallow/decadent/corrupt, and the communists (there may be no more left in China today) are virtuous/heroic.

Belles images... intà (C)ressant...

Very boring. Different stories and point of views. Cultural and historical details. The pacing is very slow and flat.

A documentary taking us in this charming city with a photograph neat and surprising because this country is full of talent that are not revealed in the world. Striking evidence of making us go back in time and passing a little to move us. But the lack of design ideas, because they enslave the images of films that lacked utility and we would have preferred upheaval. The story lacks toughness because it does not fit on the length and some are soft passages. Shanghai is full of mysteries and has not disclosed all its values.

just love to hear stories!

The world's greatest cinematic observer of change has crafted another exceptional film focusing on the city of Shanghai. Zhang Ke has several people interviewed who have all lived or experienced Shanghai in some capacity. They tell about growing up in a city caught up in turmoil - particularly in 1949. Their stories are personal, historic, political and all truly interesting. In between interviews, the beautiful actress Zhao Tao wanders through the city. Rarely has a city been shown so beautifully rendered as it has with this film. And all the interviews are shot with such meticulous attention to detail. There is a particular incredible homage to Hou Hsaio-hsien's film Dust in the Wind just prior to interviewing the director himself. I Wish I Knew chronicles the history of a city with nostalgia, harsh memories and captures on film how much the city continues to change - physically and socially. A tremendous effort by the outstanding Chinese filmmaker.

Zhang-Ke Jia's new feature documentary. I'm not perfectly sure, but I heard it's made for the Shanghai World Expo 2010. There must be a lot of financial support from the Chinese government, and I was afraid that even Jia was finding himself adjustment to political situation of China today before I watched, but it turned out to be not as I worried. He's surely clever - with probably the most budget that he'd ever got, he used that money to train himself as a film director - using quotations from new and old Chinese films from all over Chinese areas (including Hong Kong and Taiwan), he does not only give them homage but also even play with them by mimic of some particular shots from works by Kar-Wai Wang, Hsiao-Hsien Hou, Ye Lou etc. It was also efficient and clever way to show how China has changed (or remained same) from when those films were made. He also completes the way he examined in his last film "24 City." However, because he does not focus only on Shanghai (jumping to Hong Kong or Taiwan suddenly), it distracts me strongly from what the film should have had to be main-focused. Some fictional parts (starring Zhao Tao and Giong Lim) do not work well either. I'm not yet sure how this film will find its own place in Jia's filmography later when he'll become one of world's masters - at least for now, I don't see the point for Jia to make this film...