Review | Berlin 2020: Swimming Out Till the Sea Turns Blue film review: Jia Zhangke documentary is a spiritual depiction of China

China’s history since 1949 is seen through the eyes of four writers from different generations in Jia Zhangke’s documentary

The film, that includes extracts from the author’s books and interviews, features at the 70th Berlin Film Festival

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Author Liang Hong in a still from the documentary “Swimming Out Till the Sea Turns Blue”, directed by Jia Zhangke.

Published: 10:30pm, 21 Feb 2020Updated: 7:38am, 22 Feb 2020

4/5 stars

Almost a decade on from his 2011 documentary I Wish I Knew, pre-eminent Chinese filmmaker Jia Zhangke returns to non-fiction for Swimming Out Till the Sea Turns Blue.

Playing as part of the Special sidebar at the 70th Berlin Film Festival, it’s an emotional return to his hometown of Fenyang in Shanxi province, where he shot his first film, Xiao Wu, alongside a number of his later works, including Platform and Mountains May Depart .

Divided into 18 short chapters, with titles like ‘Eating’, ‘Sister’ and ‘The Old and the New’, early on the film features some intriguing ‘then and now’ shots of Fenyang, with footage from 1997 and 2019.

The contrast is startling, and Jia seems to enjoy training his camera on the youngsters on a train journey all plugged into their headphones and staring intently at images on their smartphones. Have things changed for the better? Sometimes it’s hard to tell.

A still from “Swimming Out Till the Sea Turns Blue”.

Those outside China may struggle at first, with Jia providing little context alongside what appears like a series of slice-of-life vignettes.