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Unknown Pleasures
CHINA · 2002

Unknown Pleasures

Jia Zhangke
urban unemployment youth aimlessness post-industrial China social alienation class struggle
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Synopsis

Two disaffected, unemployed Chinese youth drift through life on the streets of their industrial town, their paths crossing with that of a local young singer and dancer working for a liquor company as a spokesmodel.

Cinema Atlas Connection
I'm very much inspired by Hou Hsiao-Hsien's *Dust in the Wind* for this. In that film, he used people who are not professional actors and that gave me the idea to cast people from my own hometown. They’re much better than professional actors at presenting the reality of everyday life.
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