Bibliograph

Quitting, Zuo tian, Sony Pictures Classics ; Imar Film Co., Ltd. presents ; a Zhang Yang film ; screenplay by Zhang Yang, Huo Xin ; produced by Peter Loehr ; directed by Zhang Yang ; produced by Imar Film Co., Ltd. in association with Xian Film Studio

Type

Label

Quitting, Zuo tian, Sony Pictures Classics ; Imar Film Co., Ltd. presents ; a Zhang Yang film ; screenplay by Zhang Yang, Huo Xin ; produced by Peter Loehr ; directed by Zhang Yang ; produced by Imar Film Co., Ltd. in association with Xian Film Studio

Language

chi

Characteristic

videorecording

Intended audience

MPAA Rating: Rated R

Main title

Quitting

Medium

videorecording

Oclc number

51926669

Responsibility statement

Sony Pictures Classics ; Imar Film Co., Ltd. presents ; a Zhang Yang film ; screenplay by Zhang Yang, Huo Xin ; produced by Peter Loehr ; directed by Zhang Yang ; produced by Imar Film Co., Ltd. in association with Xian Film Studio

Runtime

112

Sub title

Zuo tian

Summary

This is the story of Jia Hongsheng, (playing himself) a star of Chinese movies and television circa 1990, who, while appearing onstage in "Kiss of the Spider Woman" in 1992 began smoking pot, quickly progressing to heroin, with a resultant spiral down into professional and personal dysfunction. Nearly all of the other characters in the film, his parents (also professional actors), fellow inmates at a psychiatric hospital, and professional colleagues, play themselves. The film is a fragmented re-enactment of Jia's life from roughly 1992-95; what emerges is a portrait of individual depression and a study in generational division and social malaise. It suggests that Beijing is not so different from New York or Los Angeles-a big, impersonal city that draws ambitious young people from the provinces and subjects them to temptation, loneliness, and danger

Table Of Contents

Start -- Jia's parents -- Dinner time -- "Are you still on drugs?" -- Second-hand bike -- 1992: the first time -- 1995: tight jeans and beer -- "Give me 10 RMG." -- 1993: shaking all over -- Shun Xing -- Friendship's end -- Smoking a lot of heroin -- Band practice with Lijie -- Loving sister -- 1996: "I quit acting." -- "Do I look like Lennon?" -- Dragon calls -- "We can't help him." -- Life is but a dream -- Change in environment -- "Adapt to your surroundings." -- "I dreamed of the dragon again." -- Evaluation -- Catching up with an old friend -- 1997: homecoming -- "I'm thirty today."

Target audience

adult

Technique

live action

Contributor