A still life of the wildest things: Magic(al) realism in contemporary Chinese cinema and the reconfiguration of the jishizhuyi style

Abstract

ABSTRACTBy considering a number of films produced in Mainland China since 2000, this article seeks to illustrate a specific form of cinematic realism that can be interpreted within the framework of magic(al) realism. Directors such as Jia Zhangke, Lou Ye and Jiang Wen have challenged previous cinematic practices, in particular the jishizhuyi style (on-the-spot realism) of the 1990s, by engaging disorienting tones and unusual visual elements in their films. Breaking and re-tracing the borders of cinematic realism, these works privilege a ‘feeling of the real’ over the ‘documentary real’ to express authenticity through the director's individual sensibility. To investigate the main features of such a new aesthetics, this analysis critically applies the theories of magic(al) realism to contemporary Chinese cinema to illustrate how the jishizhuyi style has been reconfigured. Finally, Jia Zhangke's Still Life is closely examined to illustrate the arguments outlined above.