Li Yifan’s documentary chronicles, with a fiercely analytical eye, one year in the life of Longwang village, a typically poor farming village located near Chongqing, China.
Chronicles of Longwang is a brilliant documentary-almanac chronicle. Althou- gh it takes on its own physical and human geographical trajectory, the film is structured according to the rhythms of epic rural life, with various seasons re- vealing a different aspect of the interplay of Chinese Communist Party govern- ment and impoverished rural life today. What new hopes or values can these people bring about in order to keep living on this non-arable land?
In these difficult and antiquated conditions of existence, Li Yifa’sn scrupulously objective, precisely shot documentary takes on specific meaning in this scru- pulously objective, precisely shot, often implicitly ironic and always compas- sionately engaged almanac of a year of rural Chinese life. Focusing on current transformations and dissolution of reference marks caused by the building of a system that supports the development of social discrimination. Chronicles of Longwang provides a thoughtful and compassionate insight into the daily lives of a large group of people we would otherwise have no knowledge about. Here video becomes a privileged measuring instrument of this immense upheaval.
Jérôme Baron
