Chung Kuo

Alternative title: China
Synopsis: In 1972, during Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution, Michelangelo Antonioni was invited by the People’s Republic of China to direct a documentary about the New China. His eight-week travels with a crew resulted in a three and a half hour film which presents a fascinating portrait of one of the world’s richest cultures, but also a film that did not find favour with its official sponsors, being rebuked by Mao himself, who denounced it as counter-revolutionary propaganda. Antonioni, true to his filmmaker’s instincts and despite polite intimidation from members of the Communist Party, had ventured to film not only the locales and occasions officially sanctioned, but also ventured to record what interested him personally, such as illegal marketplaces and elderly women with bound feet, and edited and framed shots to present what he saw as a more truthful representation of a revolution in crisis.
Language: Italian (Standard)
Country: Italy
Year of release: 1972
Subjects: Social Studies; Film studies; Geography; History; Politics & government
Keywords: China; communism; Mao, Zedong

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British Universities Film & Video Council