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Poster for 24 City

24 City

2008 · 1h 48m · N/A Documentary, Drama
Directed by Jia Zhangke

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Overview

As a decades-old state-run aeronautics munitions factory in downtown Chengdu, China is being torn down for the construction of the titular luxury apartment complex, director Jia Zhangke interviews various people affiliated with it about their experiences.

Director and cast

Critics on Rotten Tomatoes

Top critics, in their words

All reviews
90%
Tomatometer
Fresh

The film takes on an operatic feel, moving between euphoria for the new and lament for the lost.

Dave Calhoun, Time Out
Fresh

The director has an exquisite eye that keeps getting stronger and subtler. He trusts that beauty is vagueness's alluring upside.

Wesley Morris, Boston Globe
Rotten

24 City won't change the minds of detractors -- it is his most painfully slow yet -- but it might change the minds of his supporters, including this critic, for Jia attempts something that is, in the end, unforgivable.

G. Allen Johnson, San Francisco Chronicle
Fresh

The result is surprisingly engrossing -- even lively, due in part to brief musical numbers inserted amid the interviews.

V.A. Musetto, New York Post
Fresh

Mr. Jia is an artist, one of the most interesting filmmakers working anywhere in the world, and he made his film to bear witness to a way of life while witnesses could still be found.

Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal

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