Caught by the tides

• CN 2024
• 111 min
• Director: Jia Zhang-Ke
• FSK: from 12 years
• Original version with German subtitles (OmU)

Screenings:

• Fri., May 16, 2025 - Sat., May 17, 2025 at 7:30 pm
• Sun., May 18, 2025 - Sun., May 18, 2025 at 6:45 p.m.
• Mon, May 19, 2025 - Tue, May 20, 2025 at 7:30 p.m.
• Thu, May 22, 2025 - Mon, May 26, 2025 at 8:45 p.m.
• Wed., May 28, 2025 - Wed., May 28, 2025 at 8:45 pm

Performers: Zhao Tao, Li Zhubin, Pan Jianlin...

Fragmentary long-term portrait of a China in transition. In his latest work, master director Jia Zhang-Ke looks back on his more than two decades of artistic work.

One woman, one man, one dance floor: this is how Qiaoqiao (Zhao Tao) and Guo Bin (Li Zhubin) meet. Somewhere in the northern Chinese province, these sad souls have found each other, but their initial happiness doesn't last long. The mysterious and taciturn Bin becomes increasingly frustrated and flees his home. Qiaoqiao, confused by his sudden disappearance, sets off in search of the love of her life, but there seems to be no room for her in Bin's new life. The silent journey of a woman begins as she glides almost impassively through the provinces of China like a phantom, registering her changing surroundings. Chinese auteur filmmaker Jia Zhangke doesn't need more plot for his latest film "Caught by the Tides." With his incomparable ability to capture China's complex social and cultural landscape, he presents us with an almost dialog-free film that simply follows its characters freely and loosely through China's vast landscape. The result is a fascinating puzzle of stories and emotions as well as an evocative atmospheric picture of the rapid modernization of the People's Republic. Jia Zhangke combines everyday scenes with poetic images of the Three Gorges Dam that he himself took many years ago. "Caught by the Tides" is therefore also a found-footage film whose actual theme is the flow of time. History and stories combine to create a haunting metaphor for the collective expression of hope and grief in a changing China. - 14films.com