
In “Youth (Homecoming)” the final segment of Chinese director Wang Bing’s three-part documentary on young textile workers in the Northern Zhili town, the soft, yet firm, boundaries of expression are apparent. Wang, like most non-fiction directors, has to first shape his recordings, however, in this instance, it is not through a story. Wang along with his editor Dominique Auvray, spent five years compiling footage of Zhili’s garment workers from the years of 2015 to 2019 through sentence fragments, ample pauses, and non-verbal cues between migrant employees to highlight the precariousness of their lives. The third segment showcases Wang capturing young people attending weddings and Lunar New Year festivals in the outer provinces to alter the context of their work life.
Wang and Auvray’s assignment of properly archiving Zhili’s laborers’ lives is proving to be a tough ask, taking into account how much ‘Youth (Homecoming)’ pushes the boundaries of what the uneasy yet inquisitive subjects in the video are ready to utter. As for Hubei China’s Zhili workshops, the atmosphere can be quite oppressive and emotionally nontheistic, especially during work hours, however, chili does offer employment opportunities but at a much-reduced price. While still being at a disadvantage, Zhili overstretched their reach. Due to the paying figures being very meager and quotas being high most of the employees had to make quick choices. Many Zhili managers withhold their employees’ pay, which resulted in the employees owing months of back wages. What adds on top to the challenges faced is the assignment itself and its timing, making the tasks of allowing Wang and Auvray more complicated.
‘Spring’, conversely, View Building gravitates towards, conversely was only twelve minutes long with Xiao Shi playing the main role. ‘Hard Times’, which is part of the film ‘Youth’, was also made in two parts with the individual segment lasting close to four hours alone. The most plot intense and dramatic of the film’s episodes was ‘Homecoming,’ which honestly feels more like the key climax to the Wang and Auvray trilogy as they come together after presenting their many interlinked stories. ‘Homecoming’, for example, manages to encompass several plot elements of both sequences and interweaves all three into completing the movie’s narrative in an untidy manner while remaining cohesive. Family dynamics and romantic relationships take center stage in ‘Homecoming’, so, unsurprisingly, the movie gets a great deal of cohesion considering this was the last of the three sequence documentaries.
In the trilogy titled “Youth”, dialogue solves more than it explains, at least, this is the case in “Youth (Homecoming)” In the opening scenes, we witness a telephone conversation involving a regular worker and his supervisor who refuses to transfer his pay as they wait for over three hours to speak with the customer. This entire dialogue is interspersed with short conversations and antagonistic behavior between onscreen couples who are sewing together.
One of the young men in his early twenties responds sarcastically to his colleague after she estimates stitches per minute for completing a particular garment. Other couples have a quarrel over the conversation reached about quality control, “The head of the company asserts that they are too loose,”, and” I claim they are snug.” I claim they’re loose.”, “You can’t stitch straight so easily why would we even bother with bowties!”, Loud yes but productive no, such types of conversations are quite common in Zhili and have a huge role to play in explaining life in Zhili in great depth.
Zili’s workshops are not new to some subjects of Wang and Auvray’s as they are already trade veterans. However, it is important to note that most of the subjects of Wang and Auvray are still quite young and energetic, early mid-20s to late 20s. Not formulating ideas on drama, Youth (Spring) still retains a subtle yet underlying vibe of romance and flirtatiousness. One can faintly the radios in the background of the factory rooms. For instance, the vivid feeling of wilderness found in the Mando-pop song lyrics is an excellent soundtrack expression of longing for an ideal future that might be more appealing during childhood than in actuality. Similar to the youth these songs are heard in, they can be heard during Youth (Homecoming), when youngsters are working with parents or other kids and roaming around shops with their significant others. A simple yet hysterical exchange goes as; “Marry a man with an education, they said. That’s you, right?”, demonstrating the inner tension and many side glances.” To a good extent, that is the high pomposity of the future ”, whereas a lot of these conversations will contain no punctuation and leave the audience feeling blank.
If you’ve already watched “Youth (Spring) and “Youth (Hard Times)” (which you should), then allow me to say that you’re already a fan of “Youth (Homecoming),” There is so much detail and an obvious sense of the dramatic scale that it hardly even matters that the film doesn’t go through a traditional ending or even a period. It is still possible to understand the way time flows for the workers in Zhili in “Youth (Homecoming)” while not knowing what will happen later.
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