Arquivo

Winter, 1979. In the small town of Fenyang, in the distant province of Shanxi, China, young Minliang and a group of friends make a living performing theater plays that extol the feats of Mao Tsé-Tung. When he is not with his troupe, Minliang seeks out the company of beautiful Ruijuan with whom he keeps up a relationship that is ill defined. He discovers that his beloved one is promised to the son of a local doctor. Something will have to change. Spring, 1980. The winds of political transformation begin to blow on Fenyang. The group can now include in the performances western music and habits hitherto forbidden, such as smoking cigarettes. Platform is also the name of a hit song in China in the eighties. "It`s a song about expectation. This was the decade I became adult and the decade in which China underwent the greatest changes", explains director Jia Zhangke. Transformations are followed by cuts in state subsidies for theater groups. The future for Mingliang and his group is uncertain. The feature won the Netpac Award - created for the promotion of Asian cinema - at the Venice Film Festival and was selected to the 25th Mostra.