Changfeng Town

A slow, arthouse film, Chanfeng town is a picture of a small chinese country town and its inhabitants, seen from the point of view of a gang of children.

Divided in five chapters, it uses a thematic narration rather than chronological, hence several times it jumps back and forth, something I greatly appreciated, together with the choice of leaving implied some of the events or details that would come up, which gives a feeling of incommunicability and distance between the viewer and the film.

There's a wide set of european inspirations to this movie that now and then emerge, more evidently: The 400 Blows by Truffaut, Fellini's Amarcord (albeit the portrayal of the various caricatures is less esuberant) and occasionally, a sense of visual poetry that reminded me of Tarkovsky. The general feel of estrangement reminded me much also of Haeneke's The White Ribbon. Altogether, while maybe too dependent on european cinema, it's most definitely a worthwhile film. The atmosphere, the nostalgic sense, the visuals, the slow, quiet pace, they all make it a very interesting film.