Pickpocket captures the experience of being left behind. As the camera follows Xiao Wu, the film captures how the sweeping changes enacted by China have improved the lives of many of his former friends. It’s supposed to be good. Sadly, that’s not for everyone. For people like Wu, a criminal, these reforms alienate them. It makes other people’s perceptions tougher on them, whether they won’t or just simply couldn’t change along with their town. It’s the unglamorous side of modernization that many hate seeing in their own cities, but director Jia Zhangke depicts this side by side with the last vestiges of what Xiao Wu has known, capturing the melancholy of the generations left behind.
"Jia's restrained yet fierce X-ray of the ills of modern China also evokes a calm, intimate tenderness for its struggling survivors."
— Richard Brody
A small town pickpocket whose friends have moved on to higher trades finds himself bitter and unable to adapt.
While all his friends have moved on to better jobs, pickpocket Xiao Wu struggles to adapt to the changes sweeping his small town.
The film is more interested in depicting a certain mood, and it does so quite well, but because of it, this film won’t work for people who like their movies character driven or with a clear message.
I wish the film focused more on Xiao Wu’s former friendships instead of Hu Meimei, but it’s also pretty interesting to see the beginnings of Jia Zhangke’s style.
Berlin
2 wins, 1 nomination
