Still Life is not your average movie. I understood this fact about the movie in the first 3-4 minutes when the camera panned giving us the view of people on a ship playing and chatting - ordinary people. Yes. This is what Still Life is all about - Ordinary Chinese People. The film is a glimpse into their lives, how they struggle against mass displacement with the construction of the Three Gorges dam.
At first, I was looking for some 'plot' - this movies offers none of that. I wanted to find such a plot in the first half hour of the film, i did not get it (which slightly ruined my interpretation of this work). It does not set out to tell the viewer a story. It sets out to show us how Chinese people are effected by such a massive project, how their relationships get demolished and how relationships get formed as previous relationships get broken. It is something that ordinary cinema can not offer. Be prepared.
And as a final note: Don't expect a story to be laid out before you. This is as artsy as a movie can get - it simply lays out a picture before you. It is you, the viewer who has to form your own interpretation of this beautiful work.
At first, I was looking for some 'plot' - this movies offers none of that. I wanted to find such a plot in the first half hour of the film, i did not get it (which slightly ruined my interpretation of this work). It does not set out to tell the viewer a story. It sets out to show us how Chinese people are effected by such a massive project, how their relationships get demolished and how relationships get formed as previous relationships get broken. It is something that ordinary cinema can not offer. Be prepared.
And as a final note: Don't expect a story to be laid out before you. This is as artsy as a movie can get - it simply lays out a picture before you. It is you, the viewer who has to form your own interpretation of this beautiful work.