Youth (Spring) [2023]

 Shot over 6 years (between 2014 and 2019), and condensed from a staggering 2600 hours of footage into an immersive and observational 3 ½ hour documentary essay – which, incidentally, made this a relatively concise work in Wang Bing’s formidable canon – Youth (Spring) is composed on a canvas that’s simultaneously expansive and intimate, rigorous and free-flowing, focussed and digressive. The first chapter in his planned ‘Youth Trilogy’, it comprises of vignettes stitched into a long-form impressionist reflection on the textile hub of Zhilli – the town, located close to Shanghai, has over 18,000 privately-run workshops catering mostly to the domestic market – where around 300,000 migrant youngsters work. With thematic preoccupations, understated tone and unassuming aesthetics that reminded me of Jia Zhangke’s extraordinary masterwork Still Life, the film painted a picture of grind, compounded by the gritty complex and claustrophobic spaces where they both slog and stay. Yet – and this is what made it such a gently affective exercise – it was never oppressively dreary or pedantic, despite the undertones of melancholy and urban desolation. Rather, it’s easy, organic, lively, jaunty and even hopeful at times, as we see kids in late teens and early 20s horsing around, flirting, indulging in silly and carefree frolic, acting like cool hipsters, lip-syncing to bouncy pop music (played at the shop-floors to alleviate monotony), creating pipe dreams, having relationships, and building camaraderie, despite the grimy environs and exhausting labour. Yes, they also recognize the exploitation and participate in collective wage negotiations with their stuffy bosses, even if these end in futility. What emerged through Bing’s empathetic gaze on a slew of individuals, was a vivid, kaleidoscopic and eloquently real portrayal of community and life in action.

Director: Wang Bing

Genre: Documentary/Essay Film

Language: Mandarin

Country: China