en Killing the Chickens, to Scare the Monkeys

Killing the Chickens, to Scare the Monkeys
Killing the Chickens, to Scare the Monkeys
Directed by	Jens Assur
Written by	Jens Assur
Produced by	Studio Jens Assur
Cinematography	Marek Weiser
Edited by	Fredrik Morheden; Åsa Mossberg
Release date	2011;
Running time	23 minutes
Countries	Sweden; Thailand
Language	Mandarin Chinese with English subtitles

Killing the Chickens, to Scare the Monkeys is a 2011 short film directed by Jens Assur. The story is set in the People's Republic of China and consists of nine scenes where national politics and strategy have unforeseen consequences on a young teacher's life. The first scene of the movie is a 15-minute single take, without cuts.

The movie was shot in Sweden and Thailand and it was Assur's second short as a director and writer.

Background

The idea for the movie is based on a photograph, smuggled out of China, depicting a group of prisoners kneeling, awaiting their execution. Around the group, people can be seen chatting and even laughing.

Title

The title paraphrases an old Chinese idiom "Kill the chicken to scare the monkey" (杀鸡儆猴, lit. kill chicken scare monkey), which refers to making an example out of someone in order to threaten others, in the manner of pour encourager les autres.^[1] The movie implies that the Chinese government policy of executing dissidents is meant to deter others.