X
  • 2021
  • The Cinema Guild
  • 1 h 52 m
  • 2021
  • The Cinema Guild
  • 1 h 52 m
Swimming Out Till the Sea Turns Blue

Summary From director Jia Zhang-Ke (Ash Is Purest White, A Touch of Sin) comes a vital document of Chinese society since 1949. Jia interviews three prominent authors—Jia Pingwa, Yu Hua, and Liang Hong—born in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, respectively, and all from the same Shanxi province where Jia also grew up. In their stories, we hear of the d...

Directed By: Zhangke Jia

Written By: Zhangke Jia, Jiahuan Wan

  • 2021
  • The Cinema Guild
  • 1 h 52 m
  • 2021
  • The Cinema Guild
  • 1 h 52 m

Swimming Out Till the Sea Turns Blue

Metascore Generally Favorable Based on 11 Critic Reviews
70
User Score Available after 4 ratings
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Summary From director Jia Zhang-Ke (Ash Is Purest White, A Touch of Sin) comes a vital document of Chinese society since 1949. Jia interviews three prominent authors—Jia Pingwa, Yu Hua, and Liang Hong—born in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, respectively, and all from the same Shanxi province where Jia also grew up. In their stories, we hear of the d...

Directed By: Zhangke Jia

Written By: Zhangke Jia, Jiahuan Wan

Top Cast

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Critic Reviews

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Metascore
Generally Favorable Based on 11 Critic Reviews
70
82% Positive
9 Reviews
18% Mixed
2 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews

Critic Reviews

 View All
Metascore
Generally Favorable Based on 11 Critic Reviews
70
82% Positive
9 Reviews
18% Mixed
2 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews
90
Oct 5, 2021
The writings of Ma Feng appear to have evoked much of the themes Zhangke captures in his beautiful story and its surface simplicity and deeper subtext. Although it is a bit lengthy, Swimming Out Till the Sea Turns Blue is a well-done and beautifully expressed film for understanding a people and their history.
By Sabina Dana Plasse FULL REVIEW
80
May 27, 2021
The movie is an affecting group portrait and also a complex and subtle piece of literary criticism.
By A.O. Scott FULL REVIEW
80
May 25, 2021
If Swimming Out Till the Sea Turns Blue and its intimate tapestry of peasant fortitude and artistic endeavor won’t be as immediately resonant to audiences outside of China as his expansive masterpieces “A Touch of Sin” or “Still Life” are, it’s still a valuable document.
By Robert Abele FULL REVIEW
75
May 27, 2021
Across the extended, handsomely shot sit-down interviews (with Ma’s daughter and the three other writers), what emerges is a fragmentary oral history of Chinese rural life across several transformative decades of the 20th century: family stories, tragedies, remembered slogans, the particulars of trying to grow crops in alkaline soil or coming of age as the son of a declared “counterrevolutionary.”
By Ignatiy Vishnevetsky FULL REVIEW
70
Feb 28, 2020
It’s the opposite of sensational; quiet, dignified and ruminative, it gets far closer to real Chinese people than a TV-style travelogue, though its many references to events in modern Chinese history will probably lose the casual viewer.
By Deborah Young FULL REVIEW
63
Sep 10, 2020
Jia Zhang-ke’s film is a quietly reflective, intermittently rambling rumination on an explosively momentous period in Chinese history.
By Chris Barsanti FULL REVIEW
50
Feb 28, 2020
Meditative and meandering, this handsomely shot but unfocused picture might present something of a challenge to all but the most dedicated students of Chinese cultural history.
By Wendy Ide FULL REVIEW

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Details

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Production Company Xstream Pictures, Huaxia Film Distribution, Alibaba Pictures Group, Huayi Brothers Pictures, Kylin Network Movie & Culture Media, Shanghai Film Studio, Shanxi Film & Television Group, Wishart Media, iQIYI Pictures
Release Date May 28, 2021
Duration 1 h 52 m
Genres
Website http://www.cinemaguild.com/theatrical/swimmingout.html
View All Details

Awards

To Ten Chinese Films Festival
• 1 Win & 2 Nominations
Berlin International Film Festival
• 1 Nomination
Pingyao International Film Festival
• 1 Nomination

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