X
- 2006
- Shadow Distribution
- 1 h 30 m
- 2006
- Shadow Distribution
- 1 h 30 m
Summary This documentary examines the rise and fall of the revolutionary model opera, or Yang Ban Xi, in China.
Written By: Yan Ting Yuen
- 2006
- Shadow Distribution
- 1 h 30 m
- 2006
- Shadow Distribution
- 1 h 30 m
Yang Ban Xi: The 8 Modelworks
60
3.9
Summary This documentary examines the rise and fall of the revolutionary model opera, or Yang Ban Xi, in China.
Written By: Yan Ting Yuen
Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 10 Critic Reviews
60
50% Positive
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
50% Mixed
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 10 Critic Reviews
60
50% Positive
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
50% Mixed
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Enthralling documentary.
The director Yan-Ting Yuen revisits the country's recent past to explore the history and legacy of one of the strangest byproducts of totalitarian madness: the revolutionary spectacular.
Yuen would have been better off exposing more of that reality and celebrating less of the joyful silliness of the model works, let alone staging pointless hip-hop-inflected dance numbers set to Yang Ban Xi musical themes.
Overall, the film lacks cohesion and a true point of view. Further muddling the film's meaning is a voice-over attributed to Jiang Qing, which we learn at the end is fictionalized.
Will intrigue art house audiences unfamiliar with modern Chinese history. But sinophiles and followers of Chinese cinema will be shocked by the lack of historical detail and context.
Despite the fascinating topic, director Yan-ting Yuen offers relatively little history or criticism of the works themselves, squandering screen time on such gimmicks as mock voice-over and scenes of young people performing hard-rock and hip-hop versions of vintage songs. It's enough to make you pine for the good old days when irony was illegal.
Perhaps understandably, these artifacts of a vastly different ideological and economic era -- have become kitsch objects, the focus of a half-horrified nostalgia, in the midst of the feverish Chinese boom.
User Score
Generally Unfavorable
Based on 8 User Ratings
3.9
25% Positive
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
38% Mixed
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
38% Negative
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
User Score
Generally Unfavorable
Based on 8 User Ratings
3.9
25% Positive
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
38% Mixed
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
38% Negative
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
There are no user reviews yet. Be the first to add a review.
Production Company
Scarabees Films Productions
Release Date Mar 29, 2006
Duration 1 h 30 m
Genres
Awards
Montréal International Festival of Films on Art
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
Sundance Film Festival
• 1 Nomination