Among the so-called Sixth Generation of Chinese filmmakers Jia Zhang ke absolutely is my favorite director and storyteller of ‘ordinary’ Chinese citizens compelling stories, told in what I can call very-realistic style no matter if story is real-life or fiction, or if film is documentary, fiction or a mix of both genres like what happens in 24 City.
J. Hoberman @ Village Voice wrote:
One of the richest films of the past decade, Jia Zhangke's three-hour epic Platform spans the 1980s, filtering the period through the mutation of the propaganda-performing Fenyang Peasant Culture Group into the equally cheesy All Star Rock and Breakdance Electronic Band. Jia has a strong visual style (based on long fixed-camera ensemble takes) and a powerful set of concerns (the spiritual confusion of contemporary China, caught between the outmoded materialism of the Maoist era and its market-driven successor). Elliptical yet concrete, Platform is a laconic tale of lackadaisical love and even more haphazard entertainment, as played out in a series of unheated factory halls and outdoor courtyards.
