Berlin 2023: Art College 1994 Movie Review Chinese Animation Director Liu Jian Returns With Slacker Drama Pondering Art, Life And Love
- Good Day director Liu Jian returns with the story of Chinese students who are caught between traditional values and modernity in the early 1990s.
- His character philosophy gets a little boring after a while, but Liu's unique animation style is admirable.
3/5 stars
When Liu Jian's film Good Day was released in 2017, his compatriot and director Jia Zhangke rightly called it a milestone in the history of Chinese animation. An insightful crime drama inspired by the Coen brothers, created by a handful of animators, there's never been anything like it.
With some caveats, the same can be said of his new film Art College 1994 , which, like its predecessor, got the chance to participate in the Berlin International Film Festival.
Have questions about the hottest topics and trends from around the world? Get answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new curated content platform with explanations, FAQs, analysis and infographics provided by our award-winning team.
While on the campus of the South China Academy of Arts, the crew sees a group of male and female students talking about art, life, and love, and their lives accidentally intertwine.
Since the early 1990s, when China began to open up, Western influences began to appear. Bunny and friends Xiaojun and Yukai listened to Nirvana (one even bought a cassette of the grunge band's third album, In Utero ), while their sleepover was covered in posters of Marlon Brando, Sylvester Stallone and Michael Jackson.
Beginning on screen with an artist's quote from a portrait of a young James Joyce , the plot is informal, though not without humor. At one point, the boys use their artistic skills to forge admission tickets to a performance of The Godfather trilogy.
Shadowless Tower: A Gentle Search for Yourself in Medieval Chinese Drama
But, for the most part, they just sat around making esoteric comments, like the students. Things like “Art is everything. Everything is art." or "What isn't art?" An artist in his own right, Liu undoubtedly spent his student years discussing these sensitive topics.
The story is made more interesting by the introduction of two music students, Howe Lilly, and a charming but bumbling pianist whose business sense (he loves the sound of music ) is unlike any other.
"Love is too much trouble," said Lily, who was romantically involved with a French literature student. Like many in the film, as he struggles to find his way in life, he finds himself caught between traditional values and modernity.
© Provided by South China Morning Post. High School of the Arts photo, 1994.Even with a vocal lineup consisting of Dong Jijian, Zhou Dongyu, and musicians RenKe, Art College 1994 was not as successful as Have a Nice Day. Its looser philosophy became a bit dull; You can imagine what would have happened if the manuscript was in the hands of Richard Linklater.
But Liu's unique animation style is impressive, especially with quirky artistic flourishes like painting Lily full of babies, fish, cameras, and more. And for all its flaws, it's still unique in the world of animation.
Want more articles like this? Follow SCMP films on Facebook
More articles from SCMP
Budget 2023-24: Tax breaks 'not enough' to reverse declining birth rate in Hong Kong
12 residential lots will be offered under the Hong Kong Land Sale Scheme 2023-2024, which is expected to deliver 9,000 units.
Malaysia's Anwar aims to estimate living expenses in advance while keeping an eye on debt
Championship 1: Fabrizio Andrade gives John Lineker the steel trophy in Fight Night 7 vs. Bangkok
This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (www.scmp.com), a major news organization covering China and Asia.
Copyright (c) 2023. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. all copyright.
