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Platform

Platform

2000
Drama
2h 34m
Set in Fenyang, Shanxi Province, the film focuses on a group of amateur theatre troupe performers whose fate mirrors that of the general population in China as massive socio-economic changes sweep across the mainland. The film commences in 1979 with the troupe performing numbers idolizing Mao Zedong, ending in the '80s when the shows reflect the strong Western influences pervading China, covering a decade in which China saw tremendous changes. (imdb)
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Platform

2000
Drama
2h 34m
Your probable score
Avg Percentile 67.53% from 252 total ratings

Ratings & Reviews

(252)
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Rated 19 Mar 2011
72
41st
I struggled with this. I picked up on a lot of themes involving a China going through transition, the young people caught between different eras. But I felt like the meaning of many scenes flew over my head, and there were stretches when I got restless. I didn't always have a handle on the characters and what they were going through. However, there were other moments that were very evocative and showed a lot of spark. I did like most of it, even when I felt like I was missing the point.
Rated 14 Mar 2010
67
52nd
The film examines the social changes in 1980's China--moving from Communist to a more open, economic system--by following a traveling performance group that starts off doing Maoist dramas and eventually ends up doing 80's pop.
Rated 09 Oct 2011
90
90th
Every shot in this film is exquisitely composed with a static camera and the occasional drifting pan. People speak very little and when they do it's often in Communist Party kant. The impact is weighty if the weight is primarily that of the movement of history and cultural change. The inner lives of characters are subjugated by that weight. The film's most moving moment is when the theater troupe cheers on a passing train and they're left standing on the empty tracks.
Rated 31 Dec 2012
74
33rd
The film is interesting thanks to the director's unique voice. After seeing so many Chinese films depicting their people as disciplined, honest, hardworking if poor folk, it's quite refreshing to see a more subversive self-portrait about a bunch of arty slacker adolescents, smoking and achieving nothing in a nowhere town, while being seduced by Western producs and values. Quite cynical really. The characters do grow on you but not nearly enough, and the film's main flaw is its excessive length.
Rated 14 May 2013
90
95th
Immense portrait of youth facing dramatic cultural changes, but also a rewarding, slow-moving film focused on common life -- young men and women falling in love, moving on, getting drunk, fighting, dancing, partying, watching rock concerts. Shot by shot, it frames the metamorphosis of a country -- and its people -- without even mentioning any economic data or official speeches. Platform, named after a song that captures the most beautiful scene of the film -- the train moving --, is life itself.
Rated 25 Dec 2020
94
93rd
Plataforma estreava há 20 anos no Tokyo Filmex. Num lento e sutil desenrolar da passagem da revolução cultural maoísta para a ocidentalização capitalista do regime chinês temos um filme espetacular, pois observa com grande agudeza, mas sem panfletarismo, o quanto as pessoas comuns são afetadas por decisões políticas além delas mesmas. DVDRip no MakingOff
Rated 14 Aug 2007
20
2nd
Lauded by quite a lot of people but in the mix extremely dull, meandering, open-ended cinema, with little to redeem it.
Rated 19 Jun 2008
60
6th
This film would be best appreciated by those who actually lived in late 70s and early 80s China. Great photography, but weak screenplay.
Rated 01 Feb 2009
3
31st
Probably authentic, mostly boring, and every so often touches upon something of value. I'm happy to find that Jia has only improved since, and greatly at that.
Rated 09 Apr 2010
83
72nd
Following an acting troupe through the decade of the 1980s, Jia's film tracks cultural, economic, and social changes in China. The film approaches its subjects in a low key manner, typical of Jia's style, though with less narrative arc than some of his later films. This invites engagement with the characters as they seek a firm footing in their lives. The ending is another of Jia's magnificent shots, with a slightly surreal musical choice that changes the entire tone of the scene. Wonderful.
Rated 24 Oct 2010
40
97th
"A laconic portrait of a remote Chinese city in arrested development." - Ed Gonzalez
Rated 02 Apr 2011
30
5th
Long and uneventful. I guess it's just not for me.
Rated 09 Aug 2011
81
90th
Not merely a criticism of the relatively easy target of the cultural revolution; actually less narrowly didactic yet far more subversive, both to the Chinese government and the global economic system. And yeah, a heartfelt drama as well.
Rated 02 Dec 2011
64
28th
#721
Rated 20 Mar 2013
20
9th
This is just too boring.
Rated 24 May 2013
72
32nd
Worthwhile and complex, but also leisurely paced to the point where, at least to me, it's detrimental.
Rated 21 Feb 2016
16
88th
Star Rating: ★★★★1/2
Rated 27 Jul 2020
80
87th
Jia Zhangke has a way of documenting China's changes that just jives with me. This one is a little long in some scenes, but has some great ones to make up for that.
Rated 01 Nov 2020
62
49th
The version that I saw was 148 minutes , but it should be 183 minuts!!!
Rated 18 Dec 2022
60
21st
This is well done but I found it a little slow and dull. It's a well made film, but I didn't really get a lot out of it.

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