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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Unknown Pleasures
Generally favorable reviews
Based on 10 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 5 votes
Read user comments
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Movie Info
Genre(s): Foreign
Written by: Zhang Ke Jia
Directed by: Zhang Ke Jia
Release Date:
Theatrical: March 26, 2003
DVD: March 16, 2004
Running Time: 113 minutes, Color
Origin: France / Japan / South Korea / China
Language(s): Mandarin (with English subtitles)
Summary
RATING: Not Rated
Starring Wei Wei Zhao, Qiong Wu, Qing Feng Zhou, Hong Wei Wang, Ru Bai, Xi An Liu, Shou Lin Xu, and Ren Ai Jun
A harrowing account of disillusioned young people living in China. (New Yorker Films)
Also On Metacritic
FILM: Platform Still Life The World
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database View The Trailer Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Village Voice J. Hoberman
Unknown Pleasures suggests a coolly formalist reinvention of neorealism. The film is both distanced and immediate -- a fiction with the force of documentary.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Ken Fox
There's a telling disjunction between the dismal lives of Jia's characters and the optimism of China's officially sunny advance into the 21st century, and their helplessness often becomes a pathetic pantomime.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias
Much like his overrated 2000 opus "Platform," Unknown Pleasures spends more energy fussing over the backdrop than on the poor souls languishing in the fore, who have little to do but wander aimlessly and symbolically as life passes them by.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman
There are several small, startling moments of insight hidden amid the long, slow stretches of listlessness. But the balance is slightly off. We could have used a little more pleasure to get us through his grim adolescent unknown.
Read Full Review >The New York Times A.O. Scott
Perhaps the world doesn't need another picture on disaffected youth, but Pleasures is about more than alienation.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle C.W. Nevius
The story goes nowhere...We don't understand the motivation of the characters.
Read Full Review >Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt
This sequel to Jia's excellent 1997 drama "Xiao Wu" is less original and absorbing than its predecessor, and less visually impressive than "Platform," his 2000 look at Chinese sociopolitical change.
Read Full Review >Variety David Rooney
As lethargic as the characters it portrays, the film requires greater staying power than many audiences will possess.
Read Full Review >Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy
The film drags and lingers and goes more or less nowhere, imitating its protagonists' lives so exactly that you want to give them both a good smack.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 8.0 (out of 10) based on 5 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
