In
China, the closest you can get to the French region of Provence is a remote
mountain community in Yunnan. It is there that formerly Shanghai-based artist
Shen Jianhua moved to open his communal art school. It is like a small pocket of
utopia in China, but it definitely stands at odds with the prevailing values
and attitudes of dominant contemporary Chinese society. Hybrid filmmaker Zhang Yang
documents the rhythms of Shen’s quiet retreat in Up the Mountain, which screens tonight during this year’s Film Comment Selects.
Without
a doubt, Up has to be one of the most
colorful Chinese documentaries of recent vintage, especially from a filmmaker
with indie cred. It is easy to see why the green fields and vivid wild flowers
have inspired Shen and those who study with him. The star pupil is Zhao Dinglong,
the master’s star protégé, but most of his students are seventy and eighty-year-old
aunties from the village.
Zhang’s
observational film never patronizes the seniors studying with Shen. Nobody
thinks of their work as cute or empowering, because it is straight-up good.
Frankly, some of the best visuals in the film come from their colorful
canvases. They clearly take it seriously and so will the audience.
Of
course, not everyone appreciates life on the mountain as much most viewers
probably will. The drama will come from Zhao and his fiancée, Xu Lin. She
agrees with her parents and his parents that it is time for him to leave Shen
and get a real job in business. However, the Zen-like Shen recommends Zhao
invite her to spend time at the school, so she can come to appreciate what it
means to him. It is sage advice, but the results will be somewhat ambiguous.
Frankly,
Up is not the sort of film you watch
for high drama. It is rather easy-going, even by documentary standards. Zhang
is more interested in soaking up the vibe and texture of life in Shen’s artist
colony, much like he did in his Eastern Western narrative Soul on a String and his more narrative-driven documentary, Paths of the Soul. The extremely boxy
aspect-ratio almost looks like a mistake at first, especially since the sides
of the familiar dragon logo of the State Film and TV Bureau are cropped off,
but it gives the film an intimate focus that really draws viewers in.
Regardless,
Shen emerges as an enormously intriguing, if somewhat inscrutable figure during
the course of the film. The super-cool sunglass-donning artist always seems to
have a knack for saying the right thing to bring peace to his pupils and to
facilitate their artistic development. Zhao and Xu Lin are also a ridiculously
attractive couple, whom we start to root for.
Clearly,
it is Shen’s deceptively calm iron will that sustains his school. Outsiders
just don’t seem to get it, even though anyone watching Up will immediately understand its charm. Essentially, Up is the indie documentary equivalent of
a lazy afternoon nap in the countryside, but with some really striking folk-style
painting. Recommended for patrons of Chinese independent cinema and regional
art, Up the Mountain screens tonight
(2/10) at the Walter Reade, as part of the 2019 edition of Film Comment Selects.