As the film of the week I select Jia Zhangke's feature directorial debut “Pickpocket”, out of the simple reason that it can be currently seen in its restored glory on MUBI. The film, originally shot on 16mm, stars Wang Hongwei as an outcast con-artist Xiao Wu who is equally estranged from the society and his partners in crime, and whose name serves as the film's original title.
As it is going to be the case in Zhangke's later body of work, the milieu the film is set up in in his hometown, it is spoken in the local Mandarine dialect, and the plot is heavily charged with symbolism. Little poisonous arrows are flying towards the direction of the alleged socialist society in which money talks, prostitution blooms, and in which the police turns a blind eye to corruption and middle-scale crime, noticing and punishing petty criminals only. In this big pond, like in any other, the big fish continues to swim, while the small gets swallowed by the next predator in the food chain.
When we get to know him, Xiao Wu profits from the carelessness of average citizens, and somewhat loosely respects laws in the region. That is about the change, nationwide, when the new public security campaign to advance the rectification policy and the fight against crime gets introduced. Small criminals are urged to turn themselves in, and when none of them does, the authorities do what the authorities in not so democratic countries usually do: they create opportunities to make the laws being applied.
There are many scenes which will remind of Zhangke's fine feeling for the right moment expressed in his documentary body of work. Such is the opening scene of the movie which simply shows a couple of people waiting for something, probably just a bus, while the voices of multiple actors recite local, but also communist proverbs and maxims. In almost every pore of “Pickpocket” there is a dose of unpolished realism, the pangs of cynicism and humor, and the observant, non-judgemental approach to both the topic and the film's characters.
It is incredible that Hongwei has never acted before (all roles in the movie are played by first-timers). His character's aimless roaming though the streets of Fenyang, the man's damaged relationship to his ‘colleagues', and his attempts to create a wee bit of normality in private life, don't give away an amateur, and they absolutely don't look like Hongwei is struggling to deliver a good performance. Likewise, the role of the karaoke singing hostess Mei-Mei, Xiao Wu's love interest and major heartbreak is delivered with nonchalant elegance by Hongjian Hao.
