directed by Jia Zhang-Ke
China 1997
Filmed with non actors and without an actual script, “Xiao Wu” follows the attempt of a petty thief in a provisional ruin to find foothold in a rapidly changing China. Not only is China changing, but his friends are as well: They are becoming respectable, married and investing their illegal money in legal business. There is a constant sensation of Bresson and Wenders in the inability of Wu to act, in his angst and alienation. Far from being Chinese Neo Neo Realism, Jia is dedicated to his character, whom he layer by layer unmasks and ultimately exposes completely naked. out of     

Memoirs from the Beijing Film Academy by Zhen Ni, Chris Berry, Ni Zhen	Zhang Yimou: Interviews (Conversations With Filmmakers) by Frances Gateward	Chinese Films in Focus: 25 New Takes by Chris Berry	Wong Kar-Wai: Auteur of Time (Bfi World Directors) by Stephen Teo	Once Upon a Time in China : A Guide to Hong Kong, Taiwanese, and Mainland Chinese Cinema by Jeff Yang	Chinese Film Theory by George S. Semsel	Women Through the Lens: Gender and Nation in a Century of Chinese Cinema by Shuqin Cui	Tsai Ming-Liang by Tsai Ming-Liang