Direction: Jia Zhangke
Country: China
Jia Zhangke’s Caught By The Tides unfolds as a bitter love story told through the director’s signature style. Although paced deliberately, the film reveals new layers with every frame, marked by Zhangke’s keen vision and unobtrusive camerawork, precise editing, and eclectic soundtrack. This culturally immersive drama was crafted from footage shot over 22 years, forming a docu-fiction tapestry that reflects China’s rapid transformations—emotional, social, political, and technological—in the 21st century.
Zhangke often opts for silence, inviting the viewer into moments of quiet contemplation. The linear plot is punctuated by mesmerizing landscape shots that emphasize the uniqueness of each setting. At the heart of the film is Qiao Qiao (portrayed by Zhangke’s muse and wife, Zhao Tao), a model and club dancer from the northern city of Datong, who embarks on a journey to find her long-lost lover, Bin (Li Zhubin). He left in 2000 seeking better work opportunities, promising to send for her, but vanished without a trace. The couple eventually meets up again in 2006 in Fengjie, and in 2022 back in Datong, completing a 22-year narrative cycle.
There’s an indestructible link between past, present, and future in the film that makes us experience time and place in a peculiar, nostalgic way. Zhangke’s filmmaking style is powerful and honest, and his ability to constantly surprise the viewer without resorting to the slightest artifice is remarkable. Emotion and melancholy intertwine in a fascinating yet heartbreaking story delivered with a mixture of modesty and sensitivity.
Since the early 2000s, I've been captivated by Zhangke’s contemporary cinematic vision—films like Still Life (2006), A Touch of Sin (2013), and Mountains May Depart (2015) have left an indelible mark on me. I knew Caught By the Tides would not disappoint, as a raw emotional power permeates the entire film.
