Confronting the Real, Construing Reality: Artistic Vision and Gaze in Jia Zhangke’s 24 City

This study thinks through the relationship between documentary and truth in Jia Zhangke’s 24 City. Taking into consideration Jia’s body of work, it examines the dichotomy between the documentarian and the filmed subjects. The essay argues that, different from Jia’s previous works, 24 City orchestrates a national narrative that remembers, glorifies, and closes off the past. However, there are also moments in the film that reveal a contesting power dynamic between the documentarian and the interviewees in the film. What is revealed in 24 City, therefore, is the inseparability of truth and lies collaborated among the filmmaker, the filmed subjects, and very possibly the target audiences.