Zhifu

Zhifu is a gritty film that explores the plight of people who have few skills and little education in a China shifting from a command to a market economy. It is also about the disconnect between the "common folk" and the authorities who ride herd over them. Having spent most of the 90s in China, I can say that Zhifu captures a lot of what daily life in urban China is like - family life, attitudes towards authority, the sense of aesthetic, and the contradictions of loyalty.

If I had a criticism of Zhifu, it would not be the lowish production value, which I think makes the film more authentic and fresh. Rather, I would take issue with the near utter lack of humor or happiness. The director may be trying too hard to depict a difficult situation. Chinese people are not typically morose or grim, and often express a sense of humor that is somehow cheerfully sardonic. The film would have been lifted to something more had we been shown this resilience, in addition to the hardships the characters endure.

I though this was a well made movie on what was obviously a very small budget. The camera angles are well thought out and the actors are given plenty of room to expand on the characters through the clever use of body language.

The reviewer before this likened the movie to a student film but I think they missed the point. Some movies are made to challenge the viewer and make them think and this is one of them. You're allowed to form your own opinions of the characters and that plays a key role in how you interpret this movie.

The movie doesn't examine all the angles or go further into any further character study that was available. What it does do is show us a raw side of China that could also be anywhere and sometimes humorously shows human nature all around. That comes from a certain energy throughout that makes this film worth a look and a key work from China.

Mainstream movie lovers probably won't like this film because it doesn't spell everything out for you but instead leaves a lot to your imagination. For the rest of us Indie movie lovers this is a treat.

We enter this movie as voyeurs, intruders into Xiao Jian's sewing room.We see only Xiao Jian's shadow, bent over the shadow of the sewing machine projected on a yellowish dirty wall,implying that this is going to be a story of a man projecting another life into his world a made up shadow of his real self.I see this as a movie within a movie Xiao Jian's acting out the movie in his head -- having power as a policeman.The actor gives a perfect awkwardness to Xiao glossed over with poorly contrived bravado as he intimidates commuters in deserted highways.Later he smoothly shows Xiao's increasing confidence, not in his con game, but in some kind of self-deception that he has become a real policeman.His walk is more determined,his sneakiness less nervous,more cunning. The wearing of the uniform has turned fantasy into a discovery of something in him to respect. The movie is about finding self-respect.The final Chaplinesque image of Xiao biking away confirms for me that this movie is a commentary on some specific socio-political condition in China presented in a Silent Movie mood. Xiao is cartoonish yet moves us, makes us feel for him as Chaplin's and Keaton's characters did. He is the innocent, naive Everyman caught in the turmoil of wiser men and forced to fight his way out. His policeman's uniform is the reincarnation of all those common objects Chaplin and Keaton used to throw at their pursuers. Zheng Shasha's waifish persona is a strong reminder of all those women Chaplin and Keaton's characters used to go goo-goo eyes over. This is a Silent Movie with sound and dialogue (although there are long stretches without any conversation). A movie that says a lot, simply. Cinematography is tinted like the patina of tarnished metal, greenish, darkening beginnings of rust. Gives the movie its character's mood of increasing desperation.tito a. ##

I watched Diao Yinan's Zhifu (UNIFORM) at the DC FilmFest last year. It made a strong impression at the time -- and it lingers in memory (now many months later) as a work that afforded an intriguing experience.

In some respects perhaps Zhifu exemplifies a new esthetic model gradually emerging with the DV medium. While a fictional story, UNIFORM feels very close to real life: to the ambiguous, low-temperature, mundane texture of life in much of the world. ... The deeper lessons of experience are not summarized in plot lines. They're etched out in the slow toils of living.

The story & relationships are built gradually and naturalistically. The closing scenes of Zhifu were (for me) particularly affecting. Kudos to Diao for guts -- & for what seemed a distinctive, understated style, and an interesting, individual viewpoint.

I'm only commenting due to the lack of information about this movie available--I'd like to keep anyone interested from making my same mistake.

"Uniform" was a largely cliche-ridden, uninspired movie which contained sequences both unappealing to the eye and intellect ("simple" as the reviews called it). Essentially fruitless, "Uniform" is simply unbearable to sit through-I painstakingly made my way through half. I found it amazing this movie was given any credibility (however underground it may be), as every aspect was entirely banal and seemingly ignored during production (note when a passing SUV passenger sticks his head out the window to look at the camera crew). An obnoxiously linear story teamed with horrible, horrible acting is what should be expected.

In summation...

"Zhifu" is reminiscent of a student film--a student sadly disgracing cinema who has no right to be using the medium until he shows a little more respect for it's intrinsic artistic value.