24 City (Er shi si cheng ji)

Critics Consensus

One of China's most talented directors blurs the lines between non-fiction, drama, and musical theater in this vivid portrait of a country in cultural flux.

91%

TOMATOMETER

Total Count: 43

71%

Audience Score

User Ratings: 1,122
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Movie Info

Chengdu, nowadays. The state-owned factory 420 shuts down to give way to a complex of luxury apartments called "24 City." Three generations, eight characters: old workers, factory executives and yuppies, their stories are the History of China.

Cast

Joan Chen
as Gu Minhua (Little Flower)
Liping Lu
as Hao Dali
Tao Zhao
as Su Na
Chen Jianbin
as Zhao Gang
Jiang Shanshan

Critic Reviews for 24 City (Er shi si cheng ji)

All Critics (43) | Top Critics (21) | Fresh (39) | Rotten (4)

  • Through interviews with retired workers and faux interviews with scripted characters, Jia brings long-repressed history to life on an intimate scale.

    July 23, 2018 | Full Review…

    Richard Brody

    New Yorker
    Top Critic

  • A blend of documentary and drama which is by turns movingly authentic and deliberately artificial.

    September 14, 2010 | Rating: 3/4 | Full Review…

    Liam Lacey

    Globe and Mail
    Top Critic

  • 24 City includes evocative footage of Factory 420's dismantling, but emphasizes people over place.

    July 6, 2010 | Full Review…

    Mark Jenkins

    NPR
    Top Critic

  • In [Jia Zhangke's] chronicle of the changing fortunes of a defunct but once glorious aeronautic factory and its workers through talking heads and wordless images exclusively, the documentary strain prevails to simple, yet emotionally reverberating effect.

    July 6, 2010 | Full Review…

    Maggie Lee

    Hollywood Reporter
    Top Critic

  • Strongest moments are when the pristine HD lensing by Hong Kong's Yu Lik-wai (a Jia regular) and Wang Yu, and warm string music by Yoshihiro Hanno, take over in montages showing the gradual dismantling of the factory.

    July 6, 2010 | Full Review…

    Derek Elley

    Variety
    Top Critic

  • Zhangke never hints much about politics ... His is more the story of ordinary people caught up in history and still determined to live their lives as well as they can. It's both relevant and resonant.

    May 6, 2010 | Rating: 4/5

    Derek Malcolm

    London Evening Standard
    Top Critic
View All Critic Reviews (43)

Audience Reviews for 24 City (Er shi si cheng ji)

  • Dec 22, 2010
    Thankfully, "24 City" is not a continuation of the television series "24." All kidding aside, it is easier to describe what "24 City" is not, than what it is. Ostensibly, it is about the tearing down of Factory 420 in Chengdu City in order to make way for luxury apartments. That is only a starting point for an exploration of the recent history of China as it has moved from a country always on a war footing to one that is now ruled by capital, with the airplanes once made in the factory now museum pieces. This is told through static interviews with former workers, managers and others involved in the factory, the last of whom being Su Na(Tao Zhao), a professional shopper who frequently travels to Hong Kong for her clients. And as you can see and I have read elsewhere, some of these subjects are played by actors and I am not really sure which ones are which. One interviewee, Gu Minhua, who claims she was once compared to Joan Chen is actually Joan Chen. So, basically, "24 City" sits on the edge of documentary and experiment, not totally successful, that maybe should have been attempted on a stage, instead.
    Walter M Super Reviewer
  • Jan 02, 2010
    Compelling story of a decision to destroy a long time munitions factory to make way for a condo development. It is a story that is told worldwide as politics and economics change. Would merit a higher rating but the director chose to use both real former factory workers and actors. The result is slightly disjointed and a bit misleading.
    John B Super Reviewer
  • Sep 23, 2009
    No modern filmmaker has documented the melancholy evolution of modern China better than Jia Zhang Ke, and his latest, "24 City," mixes documentary interviews with fictional monologues to tell the story of an old munitions factory and the people who worked in it, that is now being razed to build a high rise living spaces called "24 City." A poignant examination of urban progress, and the gap between the old generation and the new.
    Matthew L Super Reviewer
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