Apart from the opening gala of Suffragette, which monopolised a big part of the media attention, the first day of the festival brought us two remarkable works exploring the dramatic possibilities of the maternal-filial bond: one by acclaimed Chinese helmer Jia Zhangke, ‘Mountains May Depart’, and the second, ‘James White’, the directorial debut of American producer Josh Mond.
The Chinese auteur, one of the standout personalities in the programme, is also the subject of Walter Salles documentary ‘Jia Zhange; a guy from Fenyang.’ Both filmmakers imparted one of this year’s screen talks.
‘Mountains may depart’ opened the event and its director appeared after the screening for a Q&A, where he explained the inspiration for the film is the relationship with his mother, whom he barely has time to visit anymore due to constant travelling and filming. His mom gave him a set of keys to her home before he left to let him know that it would always be his too, a fact he revisited as a key scene of the movie. He also complained about our way of living not letting us enough time for our own emotions and feelings and that’s why he embarked on this family saga, who visits China’s recent past, reflects on its present and dares to anticipate its future.
Zhangke, an exceptional chronicler of the crash between Western values and millenary tradition in its country, goes back to 1999, when according to its words China underwent an exceptionally transforming change. It was the moment when internet was allowed, as well as the ownership of mobile phones; cars; etc. Documentary footage used to showcase life at the time shows lots of people together. Fifteen years down the line Chinese people has grown apart, increasingly isolated from each other. Another important shift has also taken place in the job market, where the all-important manufacturing and energy industries have given way to speculative investment. All of taken into account when creating a core love triangle between young girl Tao, courted by both nouveau rich Zhang and his humble, proud worker Liangzi. The rich guy gets to marry the girl, but she will find it difficult to let go of her other all-time pal, who left heartbroken leaves the city to find work elsewhere.
The film goes then to the present. Tao is divorced; Zhang has moved to Shanghai and they have a seven year old son, living with his dad. Liangzi returns to their native city seriously ill and his wife recurs to Tao for help. On the death of Tao’s father she asks for her son to come back and pay respects to his grandad. This will be the last time she will see him. The film moves finally to Melbourne in 2025. A third act slightly less accomplished than the rest, where the director’s vision of the future occurs, involving generations of expats who, having lost all contact with their mother land and its culture, feel directionless and without identity.
A highly symbolic work, ‘Mountains may depart’ movingly documents the triple exodus Chinese population has experienced in recent times. A first wave moved from rural areas to towns; the second wave moved even farther towards the big metropolis and the third one ongoing migration all around the world on a common quest to find a better living. It also brilliantly depicts the social, economic and cultural changes that have shaped China as the first world power and the contradictions all of this has meant for the citizens. Its central three way relationship may be also read as the one China formed simultaneoulsy with its own traditions and Western Values. ★★★★½
“James White’ marks the arrival of a talent to watch, Josh Mond; the third member in Borderline film productions –the other two being Sean Durkin (‘Martha Marcy May Marlene’) and Simon Campos, who is also present in this year’s programme with his latest opus ‘Chronic’-, a collective quickly establishing itself as one of the most prestigious new forces in American indie cinema.
Its title character is a bohemian upper-class New Yorker who wants to become a writer but has long been postponing to take responsibility for his own life. The emotional turmoil brought first by the death of his father and later by the terminal illness of his mother will shake the foundations of his existence. Two familiar faces from TV series, ‘Girls’ Christopher Abbott as the son and an excellent Cynthia Nixon, of ‘Sex and the City’ fame, as her demanding, cancer stricken mother give memorable performances. The film is not free from flaws. Its storyline feels overfamiliar and it shows a few close ups too many while trying to portrait James’ inner devastation. Yet a keen eye for scenes of close intimacy and the natural detail in which Mond depicts family relationships make his first feature utterly affecting. ★★★½