Documentary director Weikai Huang has assembled various footage photographed in urban China - to create a sort of symphony of disorder. A water main springs a spectacular leak in downtown traffic; passersby take advantage of the tumult to slow down and wash their tars. A man possibly fakes being injured in a car accident; motorists at first offer money to the injured party, who's brusquely dragged off the pavement by the police. A half-dressed man poises to jump from a bridge to bring attention to a stalled legal situation. Pedestrians repeatedly risk their lives by walking across a busy highway. People go their daily way, wading through flooded streets. Fattened pigs go loose across the highway, and don't seem interested in moving. A disheveled man dances between cars, narrowly avoiding being struck.
In a little under an hour, DISORDER captures everyday life gone wrong, a vision of civilization that's lost control of itself. The film is shot in black and white, on grainy stock to give the feeling of hopelessness and documentary reality - like modern-day newsreel footage. Except DISORDER doesn't narrate the action; it's up to the viewer to assemble the storyline into a portrait of modern life gone wrong. It's very effective, and almost surreal, at times.
