Han Jie’s feature debut draws on his own experiences growing up in a desolate mining district in northern China’s Shanxi province. A Chinese road movie, Walking on the Wild Side charts a young gang’s continuous flights from one kind of trouble to the next. Mirroring the stark and barren landscape, the film relays the grim story of these delinquents’ dreams of liberty and easy money. Played by nonprofessional actors who are real life troublemakers, the film offers a realism that is at once oppressive, cruel, and sympathetic.
Directed by Jie Han | Starring : Paijiang Bai, Qiang Guo, Jing Hou, Jie Lu, Zhaoting Tian | Presented at Rotterdam Film Festival, Hong Kong Film Festival, La Rochelle Film Festival, Jakarta Film Festival, Locarno Film Festival
Chinese Cinema 