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Xiao Wu

''Xiao Wu'' (), also known as ''Pickpocket'', is a 1997 Chinese drama and the first directed by Jia Zhangke. Starring Wang Hongwei in the title role along with Hao Hongjian and Zuo Baitao, it was filmed in Fenyang, Jia's hometown, in 16 mm. As one of the representative Sixth Generation directors in China, Jia Zhangke fully demonstrated some creative features of this generation in the film. Among them, the unique use of camera work strongly reflects the film’s realism. Since this film was Jia Zhangke’s graduation work, its production budget was extremely limited (only about 380,000 RMB), so most of the cast were non-professional actors. The film’s setting was unique in the Chinese film industry at the time — Fenyang, a county in central Shanxi province, was presented on screen as a representative of millions of inland Chinese counties. This contrasted greatly with the common practice of Sixth Generation directors choosing major cities as story backgrounds (such as in *The Bicycle Thief* and *In the Heat of the Sun*), and the Fifth Generation directors’ frequent focus on rural settings (such as *Red Sorghum* and *Yellow Earth*). As a long-standing administrative division, the county itself carries a strong historical sense. In the 1990s, due to the rapid development of the era and the dual penetration of conservative traditions, Chinese counties were filled with chaotic, anxious, and restless atmospheres. Chinese society is essentially a rural society, and the urbanization of the 1990s was influenced by the West. Therefore, the county, as a product between rural and urban, to some extent also represents a microcosm of Chinese society in the 1990s. Jia Zhangke’s delicate filming techniques brought small characters of the great era onto the big screen.

After its release, the film was widely praised by critics and recognized for its content. It shone brilliantly at the Berlin International Film Festival, winning numerous awards including the top prize at the 48th Berlin International Film Festival’s Forum section: the Wolfgang Staudte Award. Provided by Wikipedia