In early September, a gargantuan Chinese traffic jam stretched roughly 75 miles, as over 10,000 cars choked the highway from Beijing to the Tibet motorway. It was an unthinkable mess but a symbol of China today, a literal crush of people held captive within the throes of overwhelming progress. And it was the second such backup in three weeks. The subjects of the documentary Beijing Taxi might have been part of that madness, a trio of Beijinger cabbies who watch their city and nation change, even if their own lives don't. Filmmaker Miao Wang has the right idea examining a city of 22 million with a personal focus, although occasional detours detract from the big picture.
Wang has a sense for the historic, setting Beijing Taxi two years before the opening of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, a cornerstone of Chinese growth in the nation's post-Tiananmen era. Like most cities granted an Olympic event, construction and cleanliness emerge in record time; in Beijing, however, it's synchronized with the nation's rapid drive toward capitalist ways.
Seeing this via three lifelong Beijing residents is like never seeing it before, as Wang's cameras reveal Bai, an anemic driver in his late 50s; Wei, a tough, hopeful wife and mother; and Zhou, a 30-ish family man with a crappy car and weakness for stray dogs. All three struggle to pay their car leases and keep themselves in the game, wondering aloud about their future while the city contemplates its own.
There's no doubting the story's impact but there's something mildly uneven in Wang's telling. The film boasts a strong, engaging open that puts us in the middle of a cabbie's day, but then gives way to looser, more intimate introductions that take us away too early, and for too long. Yes, we learn more about Zhou by joining him on a fishing trip, but Wang should have added that later, when we're more invested in Zhou's well-being. I'm tempted to suggest Beijing Taxi would benefit from keying in on two stories instead of three, but the differences in age, education and gender do create an ideal combination of experiences. A good choice there.
As the Olympics draw near, and a clock in Beijing ticks toward the city's great new modern moment, Beijing Taxi tightens and tenses up, taking us through the perils of the drivers' health scares, new businesses, and home life. All three wonder about the Beijing in which they grew up versus that of the current day, with a polite underscore of "What's in it for me?" flavoring the conversation. In one fascinating sequence, a black man, in a cab fare of three Americans, surprises Bai with his flawless mastery of Mandarin. When he asks Bai to share his English knowledge, the kind driver just laughs and balks -- even though we've seen him try English lessons in an earlier scene. For this brief conversation, Bai's taxicab is a microcosm of Chinese and global progress, and the effect it can have on an older citizen.
The well-composed photography, by Ian Vollmer (Wide Awake) and Sean Price Williams (Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo), combines the city's speed and luminosity with the sad pride of its past life and current poverty. The pair capture images like artistic news gatherers, keeping the film both exciting and relevant.
As Beijing's post-Olympic future becomes clear in the coming years, Beijing Taxi could have even more impact than initially intended. Crowded cities, communist governments, and capitalist economies all have their problems. By the film's end, we just hope Bai, Wei and Zhou can avoid them and take advantage of the ride to come. You know, the odd thing about that crazy August traffic jam is that reports said it disappeared almost as quickly as it started.
Wang has a sense for the historic, setting Beijing Taxi two years before the opening of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, a cornerstone of Chinese growth in the nation's post-Tiananmen era. Like most cities granted an Olympic event, construction and cleanliness emerge in record time; in Beijing, however, it's synchronized with the nation's rapid drive toward capitalist ways.
Seeing this via three lifelong Beijing residents is like never seeing it before, as Wang's cameras reveal Bai, an anemic driver in his late 50s; Wei, a tough, hopeful wife and mother; and Zhou, a 30-ish family man with a crappy car and weakness for stray dogs. All three struggle to pay their car leases and keep themselves in the game, wondering aloud about their future while the city contemplates its own.
There's no doubting the story's impact but there's something mildly uneven in Wang's telling. The film boasts a strong, engaging open that puts us in the middle of a cabbie's day, but then gives way to looser, more intimate introductions that take us away too early, and for too long. Yes, we learn more about Zhou by joining him on a fishing trip, but Wang should have added that later, when we're more invested in Zhou's well-being. I'm tempted to suggest Beijing Taxi would benefit from keying in on two stories instead of three, but the differences in age, education and gender do create an ideal combination of experiences. A good choice there.
As the Olympics draw near, and a clock in Beijing ticks toward the city's great new modern moment, Beijing Taxi tightens and tenses up, taking us through the perils of the drivers' health scares, new businesses, and home life. All three wonder about the Beijing in which they grew up versus that of the current day, with a polite underscore of "What's in it for me?" flavoring the conversation. In one fascinating sequence, a black man, in a cab fare of three Americans, surprises Bai with his flawless mastery of Mandarin. When he asks Bai to share his English knowledge, the kind driver just laughs and balks -- even though we've seen him try English lessons in an earlier scene. For this brief conversation, Bai's taxicab is a microcosm of Chinese and global progress, and the effect it can have on an older citizen.
The well-composed photography, by Ian Vollmer (Wide Awake) and Sean Price Williams (Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo), combines the city's speed and luminosity with the sad pride of its past life and current poverty. The pair capture images like artistic news gatherers, keeping the film both exciting and relevant.
As Beijing's post-Olympic future becomes clear in the coming years, Beijing Taxi could have even more impact than initially intended. Crowded cities, communist governments, and capitalist economies all have their problems. By the film's end, we just hope Bai, Wei and Zhou can avoid them and take advantage of the ride to come. You know, the odd thing about that crazy August traffic jam is that reports said it disappeared almost as quickly as it started.
