Caught by the Tides

A film about lives undergoing dramatic changes due to the modernization of society, a sudden Palme d’Or contender from central China. A couple, played by Zhao Tao (the director’s wife) and Li Zhoubin, breaks up in the 2000s, only to accidentally meet again in the 2020s—right in the midst of the pandemic.

All of Jia Zhangke’s films focus on the ’90s and 2000s, rarely on the ’70s when he spent his early childhood. His choice of locations is equally limited. Beijing occupies only a small portion of attention; more often, the story unfolds in the county town of Fengjie, the aforementioned Shanxi province, the relatively small Chinese city of Jinzhong, and its ancient district of Pingyao.