I Wish I Knew is a film by Jia Zhang-Ke, an artistic review of the contemporary history of Shanghai, the host city of the 2010 World Expo.
We are here to have a little chat about Jia Zhangke’s documentary, from Un Certain Regard category at Cannes, on Shanghai, movie about people who recall their lives in Shanghai, with their personal experiences, that tell stories of Shanghai lives from the 1930s to 2010….
Here’s I Wish I Knew synopsis: “Shanghai, a fast-changing metropolis, a port city where people come and go. Shanghai has hosted all kinds of people – revolutionaries, capitalists, politicians, soldiers, artists, and gangsters. Shanghai has also hosted revolutions, assassinations, love stories.
After the Chinese Communists’ victory in 1949, thousands of Shanghaiers left for Hong Kong and Taiwan. To leave meant being separated from home for thirty years; to stay meant suffering through the Cultural Revolution and China’s other political disasters. Eighteen people from these three cities – Shanghai, Taipei and Hong Kong – recall their lives in Shanghai. Their personal experiences, like eighteen chapters of a novel, tell stories of Shanghai lives from the 1930s to 2010.
An eternally wandering soul returns to Shanghai and, walking along the banks of the Huangpu River, awakens to all the changes the city has undergone.” And if you are interested in some China history research, than we think this could be just the perfect start for you. You’ll have a chance to see some incredible stories of “the individuals buffeted by politics, and details of their lives forgotten by time.”
Zhao Tao
Here’s something that director had to say about his work on I Wish I Knew: “After examining China’s historic changes through my films for over a decade, I’ve developed a growing interest in history. It has dawned on me that the causes of almost all of the problems facing contemporary China can be found taking shape in the depths of its history.
When I sat face-to-face with characters in my film, and listened to them talk ever so calmly about the hair-raising events in their pasts, I suddenly realized what it was that I captured with my camera: “a dream of freedom” twinkling in their eyes. This moved me to tears.”
A dream of freedom, nice dream indeed, and that’s exactly why we support this kind of projects…
