Hopper, clearly a cinephile smitten with European art cinema, talks about the impact films like “Viridiana” and “La Notte” had on him. Jia Zhangke's Swimming Out Till the Sea Turns Blue is a Main Slate selection at the 58th New York Film Festival. Godfrey Cheshire is a film critic, journalist and filmmaker based in New York City. ... “Mangrove and Red” and “White and Blue,” will also play in the main slate. EXCLUSIVE: Cinema Guild has acquired the U.S. distribution rights to Jia Zhangke’s documentary Swimming Out Till the Sea Turns Blue. Also, Wiseman films always have structures that make them more comparable to symphonies than, say, to nonfiction prose, and watching their meaningful patterns emerge is one of the viewer’s many pleasures. Wiseman’s films, which often have long running times, are obviously labor-intensive, and the fact that he does much of the labor himself makes them monuments of Yankee diligence and industry. Liang and Yu are both successful writers who today live in Beijing, but hearing of their work brings to mind American authors like William Faulkner and Thomas Wolfe, who invariably looked homeward for their richest material. Closing out a trilogy of documentaries about Chinese artforms that includes 2006’s Dong and 2007’s Useless, Swimming Out Till the Sea Turns Blue … If Tsai Ming-liang’s Days sits on one end of the 2020 New York Film Festival spectrum, Swimming Out Till the Sea Turns Blue sits on the other, with soothing silence and meditation traded for … Watch this film on your TV, computer, or mobile device through our streaming partner, Eventive. Watch the new trailer below. Deborah Young, Hollywood Reporter. Jia Zhangke gathers three prominent authors—Jia Pingwa, Yu Hua, and Liang Hong—in Shanxi province, where he grew up, to create a tapestry of testimonies about the drastic changes in Chinese life and culture that began with … The most colorful of Jia’s trio, burly, gregarious Yu Hua, tells of becoming a dentist but then realizing he couldn’t stand looking into people’s open mouths all day, so he started writing short stories. (Beantown residents who disagree with the film’s assessment are free to say so in the comments section.) In 2018 ASH IS PUREST WHITE featured in competition at Cannes 2018. Steve McQueen. With his new film Swimming Out Till the Sea Turns Blue, Jia Zhangke completes an informal trilogy begun in 2006 examining different modes of Chinese art. Jia Zhangke, the master chronicler of China's changing times, presents Swimming Out Till the Sea Turns Blue, a touching documentary on four contemporary Chinese writers.This is … Like with Jia’s narrative features, the documentary aptly highlights what’s left behind in the wake of China’s rapid modernization: rural life, local dialects, memories of past tragedies like the … One is how visually beautiful it is, which helps hold the viewer’s attention. My fifth dispatch from the 58th New York Film Festival includes capsule reviews of Orson Welles, Filip Jan Rymsza and Bob Murawski's Hopper/Welles, Chaitanya Tamhane's The Disciple, Jia Zhangke's Swimming Out Till The Sea Turns Blue, Phillipe Garrel's The Salt Of Tears and Wong Kar-Wai's In The Mood For Love. BAMPFA from Home. Between crafting engrossing epics like Ash Is Purest White and captivating looks into Chinese history like I Wish I Knew, Jia has become one of world cinema’s most transfixing artists. Jia Zhangke. Though seemingly a natural DVD extra, “Hopper/Welles” turns out to be a two-hour feature that’s more entertaining and watchable than you might expect. If such dry, formal activities sound boring, you’ve never seen a Wiseman film. We look into numerous meeting rooms where officials, city employees and citizens discuss an array of issues and operations, ranging from the budget to trash collection to police deployments for a Red Sox victory parade. Shot in 1970 and intended to provide footage for Welles’ long lost and recently resurrected “The Other Side of the Wind” (shown at the 2018 NYFF), the film gives us an extended, impromptu colloquy between the auteurs of arguably the two most impactful debut American films ever: Orson Welles, whose “Citizen Kane” effectively launched modern cinema, and Dennis Hopper, whose enormously successful “Easy Rider” force-marched the movie industry into the era of the New Hollywood. Since there are effectively no private moments in Wiseman films, we are given the tantalizing task of speculating on the thoughts and feelings that might lurk behind outward public expressions. While an interesting enough meditation on the intersection of Chinese literature and familial culture across the past century, the documentary Swimming Out Till the Sea Turns Blue is an overthought effort from master filmmaker Jia Zhang-ke. During the New York Film Festival’s 58-year history, documentaries have never enjoyed the prominence of narrative auteur films, a secondary role reflected in their shifting place in the proceedings. If there were a Mount Rushmore of American documentarians, one of the granite heads would have to be that of Frederick Wiseman, a pioneering veteran who remains a singular force in nonfiction filmmaking. There’s no discussion of whether to pursue them, only how. Wiseman’s film unveils City Hall as the central hive in Boston’s functioning. Welles, speaking about moviemaking and the industry in general, is unsurprisingly caustic and world-weary. Yu reminisces about his childhood, when “the sea was yellow, but the textbook said it was blue,” and how he wished to swim out until it turned blue. These concepts are discussed in numerous meetings, by a spectrum of people from the government and citizenry, to the point that they come to seem the overriding concern in civic Boston. Quiet, dignified, and ruminative, it gets far closer to real Chinese people. But here he’s smart, funny and not at all crazed. This guy could be headed for a great career, you think … and then you remember how quickly he and Welles went from Next Big Things to personas non grata. This aspect gives “City Hall” a more overtly political edge than most Wiseman films have. The preeminent cinematic chronicler of 21st-century China, Jia Zhangke (last seen at NYFF two years ago with his masterful Ash Is Purest White) turns his sights to the more distant past in his surprising, complexly wrought new documentary. He also complains about the tabloid press and about some of the puzzling reactions “Easy Rider” elicited. Not surprisingly, there are no voices raised against the concepts. Godfrey Cheshire October 12, 2020. The third writer, Liang Hong, recalls the hardships her family suffered and the way poverty forced her to stand outside the local school for a month because her parents couldn’t afford the $6 tuition. Jia weaves it all together with his usual brilliance. Film runs Thursday, October 1, 2020 - Tuesday, ... Jia Zhangke (last seen at NYFF two years ago with his masterful Ash Is Purest White) turns his sights to the more distant past in his surprising, complexly wrought new documentary. Cultural memory and the often-difficult course of change in modern China, especially for ordinary Chinese, are recurrent subjects for Jia, and they return in the new documentary “Swimming Out till the Sea Turns Blue.” Inspired by a literature festival in Shanxi Province, the film focuses on three established, middle-aged writers, but it includes the recollections of various interviewees, and these tell a collective tale that stretches from the 1940s, when war gave way to a Communist government that gradually endeavored to pull rural people out of poverty with the new farming techniques and by banning traditions like arranged marriages, to the present day. NOTEBOOK: Near the beginning of the film, there’s footage from 1979. Yet diversity and inclusion aren’t just ideals boosted over others in “City Hall.” In a way, they seem more like glue that helps bind the different elements in a city government that, in this film, appears to be extraordinarily well-functioning, especially compared to our current national situation. Unlike other practitioners of fly-on-the-wall, no-commentary/no-interviews documentaries who emerged in the ‘60s and after, Wiseman was not part of any school or group. Later, as festival breakouts like 1994’s “Hoop Dreams” became arthouse hits, the visibility of documentaries grew steadily, to the point that, in recent times, they were given their own section in the NYFF: Spotlight on Documentary. During the New York Film Festival’s 58-year history, documentaries have never enjoyed the prominence of narrative auteur films, a secondary role reflected in their shifting place in the proceedings. He also recalls the time when initial success earned him a trip to see an editor in Beijing, and he was so wonderstruck by the city that he stayed for a month, a country boy suddenly aware of the wider world. Virtual Cinema), Announcing Open Roads: New Italian Cinema 2021, Taking Place Virtually May 28 – June 6, Highlights from the Midpoint of New Directors/New Films 2021, Just the Beginning: Your Most Memorable Opening Scenes. October 1, 2020. But there are some very noteworthy documentaries in the festival overall. The film plays like a very casual interview, one filmed in a dark living room fitfully illuminated by hurricane lamps. Since his breakthrough with “Titicut Follies” in 1967, he has gone his own way, carving out a remarkable career crafting dozens of incisive group portraits of people and (mostly American) institutions in films such as “High School,” “Basic Training,” Juvenile Court,” “Public Housing” and “State Legislature.”. The 58th New York Film Festival Main Slate. Jia’s latest, Swimming Out Till the Sea Turns Blue, is a documentary look at the recent history of Shanxi Province, where he grew up. SWIMMING OUT TILL THE SEA TURNS BLUE is an indispensable account of a changing China from one of the countrys foremost cinematic storytellers. The first, Dong, was about painting, centering specifically on artist Liu Xiaodong as he painted a group portrait of laborers at the Three Gorges Dam. The textbooks were wrong, but as we plainly see in the background of the shot, the sea is blue today. Returning to documentary feature filmmaking for the first time since 2010’s I Wish I Knew, Jia Zhangke’s Swimming Out Till the Sea Turns Blue charts a changing China as he interviews three prominent authors—Jia Pingwa, Yu Hua, and Liang Hong—born in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, respectively. Director Jia Zhangke discusses Swimming Out Till the Sea Turns Blue with NYFF programmer K. Austin Collins and interpretation by Vincent Cheng. Sometimes the memories verbalized here recount momentous events. Centerpiece, “Nomadland” Dir. The film premiered at the Berlin Film Festival in February and had its U.S. premiere at the New York Film Festival earlier this fall. Wiseman films always have their share of vivid characters, but “City Hall” is the rare one to contain a figure who might be considered its hero or protagonist. Yet it’s one that might provoke interesting discussions from various points on the political compass. For conservatives, “diversity and inclusion” here might seem like obligatory mantras pushed on the body politic by the forces of multi-culturalism and political correctness. Everyone seems to see diversity and inclusion as noble, necessary goals. 11. Cinematographer Gary Graver shot with handheld cameras, viewing Hopper from countless angles, and the constant visual movement together with the unusual lighting, make for a grainy black and white image that’s endlessly captivating. New York Film Festival has announced the 2020 lineup. In the early years, when the festival had few if any sidebars, they were occasionally included in the Main Slate. From the astonishment still evident in his voice, you can tell what a major shift this marked, perhaps especially for writers and artists. document of Chinese society since 1949. Apart from insane interruptions like the Cultural Revolution, China has always revered the written word and its artists, and in this leisurely paced, quietly moving film, Jia pays tribute to writers who connect modern urban culture to its provincial roots, and the current era to one that’s quickly being lost to living memory. Director Theo Anthony on ND/NF’s Closing Night Film. Swimming Out Till the Sea Turns Blue (Yi zhi you dao hai shui bian lan) Jia Zhangke China, 2020. The conversion to digital technology must have been a true godsend to him, as it was to other documentarians. The calm intentness of the filmmaker’s gaze, and his way of finding interest in the most mundane details of institutional life, give the movie a fascination that’s often revelatory. Tweet. In Swimming Out Till the Sea Turns Blue, Jia interviews three prominent authors—Jia Pingwa, Yu Hua, and Liang Hong—born in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, respectively, and all from the same Shanxi province where Jia also grew up. Jia Pingwa, one of Jia’s threesome (and no relation, it appears), recalls the time after the Cultural Revolution when China began to open up to the world and translations of books by Western authors started to appear along with works by artists like Picasso. Swimming Out Till the Sea Turns Blue will have its North American premiere on October 1 as part of the Main Slate of the 58th New York Film Festival. This minimalist key art for Jia Zhang-Ke's latest documentary on Chinese culture, Swimming Out Till The Sea Turns Blue, has almost a screen-printed look and feel to it.Although it … Other recollections are more personal. Swimming Out Till the Sea Turns Blue makes it clear that the role of the rural in the development of 20th-century Chinese culture cannot be overstated; indeed, we are told that Ma Feng did not find great success until he stopped writing about city life and abandoned the urban for the rural in both his life and his work. You might say that gives the film a somewhat warmer, more affectionate air than typical for the usually distanced, carefully dispassionate filmmaker, and “City Hall” emerges as one of Wiseman’s greatest films in part for that reason. The talk meanders here and there, and sometimes turns back on itself, but it’s never less than interesting. The conversation is unstructured and free form, as you might expect. Today, NYFF programmer K. Austin Collins is joined by director Jia Zhangke to discuss the filmmaker’s evocative new documentary Swimming Out Till the Sea Turns Blue. Opening Night, “Lovers Rock” Dir. We never see Welles, who remains off-screen lobbing questions, thoughts and arguments at Hopper. In 2015, Jia Zhangke returned to Cannes to receive the Carrosse d’Or Prize and his feature MOUNTAINS MAY DEPART (2015) was selected in Competition. The fly on the wall approach of simply capturing a subject and allowing it to speak for itself is always risky, and Swimming Out Till the Sea Turns Blue is a prime example of how this formula can actually end up hurting the overall feature. Swimming Out Till The Sea Turns Blue is the director’s latest film and his … For one, they are performing for each other, making a public case for this or that. Dir. The other surprise is Hopper, how focused and lucid he is here. “Swimming Out Till the Sea Turns Blue” is thus more rewarding when it focuses on everyday rural rituals and images, be it a gorgeous, gradually panoramic scene of … The tension between the urban and the rural continued to loom large … “Swimming Out Till the Sea Turns Blue” opens on May 28 in select theaters via Cinema Guild. In the film, a 2019 literary festival in Jia’s home province of Shanxi is the springboard for three writers’ takes on how China has been transformed since the 1940s. Instead of shooting short rolls of 16mm film, as he did in the early years, he can now film digitally for hours at a time, an advantage reflected in the extraordinary, capacious recent films “At Berkeley” (2013), “National Gallery” (2014), “In Jackson Heights” (2015) and “Ex Libris: The New York Public Library” (2017). This is especially involving in “City Hall” given what emerge as the film’s central thematic threads: issues of diversity and inclusion. NYFF 2020: City Hall, Swimming Out till the Sea Turns Blue, Hopper/Welles, Godfrey Cheshire is a film critic, journalist and filmmaker based in New York City. He has written for The New York Times, Variety, Film Comment, The Village Voice, Interview, Cineaste and other publications. Few directors are as deft at floating between the worlds of fiction and non-fiction filmmaking as beloved Chinese auteur Jia Zhangke. Swimming Out Till the Sea Turns Blue outlines the literary history of post-1949 “ New China ,” weaving together the lives of four writers who represent different periods of the People’s Republic. The film's interesting segments float in a sea of emptiness that fails to ultimately capitalise on these perspectives and build a powerful voice for itself. To make “Hopper/Welles,” Hopper took a break from editing his “The Last Movie” (a sophomore effort as ill-starred as Welles’ “The Magnificent Ambersons”) in Taos and came to Beverly Hills to allow Welles to interview him, a conversation aimed at plugging into the theme of the old Hollywood colliding with the new in Welles' "The Other Side of the Wind". The 58th New York Film Festival will run a week earlier, from Sept. 17–Oct. Now 90 and still going strong, Wiseman is a NYFF regular whose new, four-and-a-half-hour “City Hall” resembles the expansive films just named but is different in one way: it’s the first he’s made about his hometown, Boston. This year, whether reflecting the exigencies of this pandemic year or a permanent change, there is again no separate documentary sidebar. Swimming Out Till the Sea Turns Blue. One thing always worth contemplating in Wiseman films is that the people we see are usually performing, in two senses. 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