Part of Jia Zhang-ke’s Rapidly Changing Landscapes (Dir. #3)

A sympathetic antihero, Xiao Wu (Wang Hongwei) is a hapless young adult who continues to earn a living as a pickpocket, despite an intense public crackdown on petty thieves. Most of his friends have moved on from their lives of crime, finding legitimate jobs and getting married. Even a cigarette selling entrepreneur worries that his association with Xiao Wu will tarnish his business reputation. On the surface, Xiao Wu's ostracism might be a simple ‘loss of face,’ but it is also a blow to his stalwart emotions. As friends and acquaintances distance themselves, Xiao Wu seeks the companionship of an escort in a karaoke bar. Even this attempt at companionship is ill fated.

“Xiao Wu” was Jia Zhangke’s first feature by default: After graduating from the Beijing Film Academy, Jia returned to his hometown of Fenyang to make “Platform,” but a lack of funds forced him to reassess and instead to make “Xiao Wu” on the cheap. Shot completely on location—without permission from the Chinese Film Board—in the streets of Fenyang on 16mm, Jia’s film acquires a look that would make any neorealist or new-waver jealous. Stylistically, “Xiao Wu” has a made-on-the-fly edge that sets the film apart from anything Jia has done since.

Up until its DVD release a couple years ago in the UK, “Xiao Wu’s” main form of distribution was via pirated VCDs—a cheeky reminder that nothing is ‘banned’ in China. Through the Chinese black market-- the free market for the common people-- the film found its audience. Peppered with popular culture in-jokes, “Xiao Wu” was never intended for the festival circuit. It opens with people standing at a bus stop while a background audio plays in a dialect unintelligible to the average Chinese viewer. The short scene poses a question about the difficulties of communication in a country with thousands of dialects.

Wang Hongwei’s performance in the title role is not so much bold as it is bare bones. His posturing does nothing to hide his sensitivity and fragility. Even before he can earn our pity, our hoodlum hero defeats himself, admitting he is too stupid to do much of anything. Muddling through his isolation, he gravitates to Mei Mei out of desperation. When Mei Mei asks him what he wants, Xiao Wu has no answer. Either he doesn’t know or is unable to articulate his feelings. When he finds true affection—no doubt, the result of Mei Mei’s similar isolation—Xiao Wu finds new hope in his bleak future. Their brief, tender moments together offer contrast to just about every other aspect of their lives.

Omnipresent pop songs and western fashions underscore the influence of the world outside China, even in the countryside. As Xiao Wu loiters looking for his next mark, Jia inserts an unmistakable portion of audio from John Woo’s “The Killer.” On the year that Hong Kong is to be reunited with the Mainland under the “one party, two systems” ideology, it is as if Xiao Wu is pondering this contradiction. Stars of "The Killer," Chow Yun Fat and Danny Lee, were something approximating caricatures of the "hero" and "villain." Xiao Wu wonders which he is, only to realize that such broad categorizations don't really exist.

As his final bridges burn, Xiao Wu accepts abandonment and his role as an outcast. His condemnation comes as an inevitable conclusion: Arrested and handcuffed to a pole on the sidewalk, Xiao Wu’s misfortune starts to draw an audience. The last shot leaves us with a staring crowd, all looking for a sign of what is happening. Ironically, the crowd is not interested in Xiao Wu; they're interested in Wang Hongwei, Yu Lik-wai and Jia Zhangke, and this unexplained commotion with a film camera. “Xiao Wu” is the amazing product of that commotion.

Last word:

Jia’s first feature is a guerilla filmmaking tour-de-force that is unmatched in its honesty and austerity.

And check out...

• Old Hat Film: Platform (2002) Directed by Jia Zhang-ke

• Old Hat Film: Unknown Pleasures (2002) Directed by Jia Zhang-ke

• Old Hat Film: The World (2005) Directed by Jia Zhang-ke

• Old Hat Film: Still Life (2008) Directed by Jia Zhang-ke

Review By:
Kathie Smith, Staff Writer

IN REVIEW ONLINE