Much like the written ideograms in Chinese languages, the twelve chapters forming Guo Xiaolu's latest documentary, Once Upon a Time Proletarian: 12 Tales of a Country, transcend conventional narrative and float into a poetic world of images that succeed in rendering a sharp portrait of post-Maoist China. These twelve lyrical and politically insightful visual essays unveil the social landscape of China today.
While shooting She, a Chinese –her fiction film also screening in the Festival – Guo felt the urge to document the lives of peasants and onlookers surrounding the production, to probe their dreams and vibrant authenticity without the filter of an invented story. Once Upon a Time Proletarian is a gallery of these honest portraits.
Though Guo follows a variety of personalities, the new faces of China too often exhibit greed, indifference and small-mindedness. Her subjects range from a peasant who criticizes indecent businesses as he displays his poverty with the dignity derived from a strong work ethic, to millionaires chatting about the new Russian prostitutes in town and exchanging information on the stock market. A weapons factory worker who misses the time when Mao was still alive tells his story alongside young students dreaming of freedom and becoming famous artists in the West.
As the director's scarcely concealed sadness, anger and disenchantment seep through beautifully composed frames, we glimpse the revolutionary greatness and heroism of the past, especially as compared to today's reality. It's almost impossible to imagine what the future holds for the disoriented children of China's liberal economy.
Determined to relay the truth, Guo endows the film with a fresh literary touch borrowed from her graceful writing style – each chapter features a separate universe, where images appear to seamlessly match what is said and where words seem depicted more than pronounced.
Giovanna Fulvi
Guo Xiaolu was born in China and studied at the Beijing Film Academy and the National Film and Television School in the United Kingdom. In addition to writing novels since the age of fourteen, she has directed the acclaimed films
The Concrete Revolution (04),
How Is Your Fish Today? (06),
She, a Chinese (09), which is screening in the Festival's Vanguard programme, and
Once Upon a Time Proletarian: 12 Tales of a Country (09).