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Joan Chen, Lu Liping, Tao Zhao, Chen Jianbin

When the state-owned Factory 420 becomes a luxury apartment complex known as "24 City," the stories of three generations and eight characters meld together to offer an intimate glimpse into the histor... read more read more...y of China. The line between documentary and fiction blurs as the towering factories on which socialism was built are dismantled and employees are laid off, paving the way for a free-market economy. Located in Sichuan's capital city of Chengdu, the 420 plant used to produce airplane engines. For more than 50 years, it was the center of life for hundreds of workers. Now, as builders prepare to transform the factory into luxury condos, interviews with real workers and ex-workers are intercut with vignettes about a lonely Shanghai woman (Joan Chen) exiled in Chengdu, a mother (Lu Liping) who lost her son on the long trip from Shenyang, and a young professional (Zhao Tao) pondering the uncertain fate faced by her elderly working-class parents. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Flixster Users

68% liked it

998 ratings

Critics

91% liked it

33 critics

Unrated, 1 hr. 47 min.

Directed by: Zhang Ke Jia

Release Date: May 17, 2008

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DVD Release Date: January 12, 2010

Stats: 115 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (115)

  • gator681
    December 22, 2010
    gator681
    Thankfully, "24 City" is not a continuation of the television series "24." All kidding aside, it is easier to describe what "24 City" is not, than what it is. Ostensibly, it is about the tearing down of Factory 420 in Chengdu City in order to make way for luxury apartments. Th... read moreat is only a starting point for an exploration of the recent history of China as it has moved from a country always on a war footing to one that is now ruled by capital, with the airplanes once made in the factory now museum pieces. This is told through static interviews with former workers, managers and others involved in the factory, the last of whom being Su Na(Tao Zhao), a professional shopper who frequently travels to Hong Kong for her clients.

    And as you can see and I have read elsewhere, some of these subjects are played by actors and I am not really sure which ones are which. One interviewee, Gu Minhua, who claims she was once compared to Joan Chen is actually Joan Chen. So, basically, "24 City" sits on the edge of documentary and experiment, not totally successful, that maybe should have been attempted on a stage, instead.
  • columbiatch
    December 12, 2009
    columbiatch
    A fascinating and baffling hybrid of fiction and documentary. Jia interviews 9 former workers of the now dissembled aircraft parts factory which is being replaced in the current market economy by a housing and commercial center in the city of Chengdu. The catch is that 4 of the... read morese people are actors who tell their stories based on real people's experiences. The thing is that the actor interviews were not hard to discern even for two of the actors that I didn't recognize immediately. The actors are just not able to duplicate the naturalness and richness of the real people, no matter how good the performances were. This is exactly what Jia intended to exploit in order to show the difference between the forgotten personal history with the nationalistic history and its self-sacrificing ideology.

View All 24 City (Er shi si cheng ji) Reviews

Critic Reviews

Wesley Morris
August 20, 2009
Wesley Morris, Boston Globe

The director has an exquisite eye that keeps getting stronger and subtler. He trusts that beauty is vagueness's alluring upside. Full Review

G. Allen Johnson
July 31, 2009
G. Allen Johnson, San Francisco Chronicle

24 City won't change the minds of detractors -- it is his most painfully slow yet -- but it might change the minds of his supporters, including this critic, for Jia attempts something that is, in the ... Full Review

V.A. Musetto
June 5, 2009
V.A. Musetto, New York Post

The result is surprisingly engrossing -- even lively, due in part to brief musical numbers inserted amid the interviews. Full Review

Joe Morgenstern
June 5, 2009
Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal

Mr. Jia is an artist, one of the most interesting filmmakers working anywhere in the world, and he made his film to bear witness to a way of life while witnesses could still be found. Full Review

Manohla Dargis
June 5, 2009
Manohla Dargis, New York Times

The actors in 24 City, an experimental fiction-nonfiction hybrid, bring their own existential realities to their short, touching performances.

J. Hoberman
June 3, 2009
J. Hoberman, Village Voice

This subversively old-fashioned hymn to industrial production is filled with offbeat, vaguely absurd details. Full Review

Peter Howell
March 20, 2009
Peter Howell, Toronto Star

The boom-and-bust cycle that afflicts company towns in capitalist countries also dogs the state-run cogmakers, as Chinese auteur Jia Zhang-ke lyrically depicts in 24 City, an ode to changing times. Full Review

Derek Malcolm
May 6, 2010
Derek Malcolm, This is London

Zhangke never hints much about politics ... His is more the story of ordinary people caught up in history and still determined to live their lives as well as they can. It's both relevant and resonant. Full Review

Nigel Andrews
May 6, 2010
Nigel Andrews, Financial Times

History weaves in and out of faces that purl their monologues -- real or scripted -- as Jia presents the past as a giant, invisible river. Full Review

Rich Cline
May 6, 2010
Rich Cline, Shadows on the Wall

An intriguing hybrid of fiction and documentary, this film chronicles the dismantling of a notorious factory in Chengdu to make way for a new luxury community. It's skilfully assembled, but a bit dry ... Full Review

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