24 City (Er shi si cheng ji)

24 City (Er shi si cheng ji) (2008)

  • 91% of critics liked it
    (33 reviews)

  • 68% of users liked it
    (975 ratings)

When the state-owned Factory 420 becomes a luxury apartment complex known as "24 City," the stories of three generations and eight characters meld together to offer an intimate glimpse into the history of China. The line between documentary and fiction blurs as the towering factories on which… More

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Unrated, 1 hr. 47 min.
Directed By
Zhang Ke Jia
Written By
Jia Zhang Ke, Zhai Yongming
Genres
Documentary, Drama, Art House & International
In Theaters
May 17, 2008 Wide
On DVD
Jan 12, 2010
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Critic Reviews

  • Wesley Morris, Boston Globe

    The director has an exquisite eye that keeps getting stronger and subtler. He trusts that beauty is vagueness's alluring upside.

  • G. Allen Johnson, San Francisco Chronicle

    24 City won't change the minds of detractors -- it is his most painfully slow yet -- but it might change the minds of his supporters, including this critic, for Jia attempts something that is, in the end, unforgivable.

  • V.A. Musetto, New York Post

    The result is surprisingly engrossing -- even lively, due in part to brief musical numbers inserted amid the interviews.

  • Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal

    Mr. Jia is an artist, one of the most interesting filmmakers working anywhere in the world, and he made his film to bear witness to a way of life while witnesses could still be found.

  • Manohla Dargis, New York Times

    The actors in 24 City, an experimental fiction-nonfiction hybrid, bring their own existential realities to their short, touching performances.

Read all 19 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

  • Walter M


    Thankfully, "24 City" is not a continuation of the television series "24." All kidding aside, it is easier to describe what "24 City" is not, than what it is. Ostensibly, it is about the tearing down of Factory 420 in Chengdu City in order to make way… More

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