As a study of disaffected Chinese youth, Jia Zhang-Ke's new film is a refinement of the themes of his earlier Platform. In the northern province of Shanxi, two unemployed young men tread the water of their lives, smoking cigarettes, playing pool and talking about job prospects.
Hanging around in the recreation centre while lottery announcements are broadcast over the PA, they fill their days, like their lungs, with cancerous nothingness.
While one develops a crush on a local dancer, the other attempts to set himself up as a video dealer; neither enterprise meets with success.
Their constant riding around on low-powered motorcycles and the atmosphere of charged ennui are reminiscent of Bruno Dumont's La Vie de Jesus, which dealt with similarly hopeless young teenagers in provincial France.
The roving digital camera captures the hustle and bustle of aimless city life with haunting anonymity.
Boredom has rarely looked so busy.
Unknown Pleasures
Cert: 12A
