Jia Zhang-Ke - Xiao Wu ('Pickpocket') (1997)

Jia's accutely observed debut feature follows the exploits of a petty thief, Xiao Wu, who operates as a pickpocket in a ramshackle provincial town. But in a rapidly changing China, Xiao wu finds he is out of step with the times and his inability to adapt marks the beginning of his downfall. Artificial Eye




Jia Zhang Ke is an enigmatic filmmaker. The hand held camerawork, the low budget production, the long silences and naturalistic use of sound, the efforts to capture the burden of time and lack of identity experienced by his characters - all make his films slow paced and often confusing in structure. They are not specifically entertaining within a context of conventional narrative filmmaking. (amazon.com)




But Jia is making potent statements about people and their observation. His films deliver a political commentary on China, but they also offer insights into adolescence and the exclusion of young people from their own culture and the way the vacuum of their life is filled by imported images of glamour. (amazon.com)




They consume the illusion of style, they consume relationships and one another, but struggle to find an identity which is both coherent and self-fulfilling. They end up acting out performances which, rather than elevating them to significance, simply emphasise their inconsequence. (amazon.com)




Xiao Wu runs a gang of juvenile thieves, taking commission on their thefts and insisting that they follow his instructions. He demands that they conform to his expectations, yet he proves unable to conform to the expectations of others. He tries to pose in different images - dutiful son, good friend, potential entrepreneur, even lover - but all collapse about him. The only identity which sticks is the image of his past. (amazon.com)




Xiao Wu can't even perform as himself. He's a failure and his life is imploding. He needs to be anonymous in a big city if he is to be successful as a pickpocket, but the anonymity has been absorbed into his very bones - he has no idea who he is or where he wants to go. (amazon.com)