Youth (Hard Times)

Youth (Hard Times)
Promotional release poster
Chinese青春：苦
Directed byWang Bing
Produced by
  • Sonia Buchman
  • Mao Hui
  • Nicolas R. de la Mothe
  • Vincent Wang
Cinematography
  • Shan Xiaohui
  • Song Yang
  • Ding Bihan
  • Liu Xianhui
  • Maeda Yoshitaka
  • Wang Bing
Edited by
  • Dominique Auvray
  • Xu Bingyuan
  • Liyo Gong
Production
companies
  • House on Fire
  • Gladys Glover
  • CS Production
  • Arte France Cinéma
  • Les Films Fauves
  • Volya Films
  • Eastern-Lion Pictures and Culture Media Co.
  • Beijing Contemporary Art Foundation
  • Le Fresnoy
Release date
Running time
227 minutes
Countries
  • China
  • France
  • Luxembourg
  • Netherlands
LanguageMandarin

Youth (Hard Times) (Chinese: 青春：苦; pinyin: qīng chūn ku) is a 2024 documentary film directed by Wang Bing. The second entry in the director's Youth trilogy about young Chinese textile industry workers after the 2023 documentary Youth (Spring), Youth (Hard Times) completed for the Golden Leopard at the 77th Locarno Film Festival.[2] It was followed by Youth (Homecoming), also released in 2024.

Premise

Tensions surface between workers and factory owners in multiple textile workshops in Zhili.[1]

Release

Youth (Hard Times) premiered on 13 August 2024 at the Locarno Film Festival.[1] The third and final installment in the trilogy, Youth (Homecoming), debuted at the 81st Venice International Film Festival in September 2024.[2]

Reception

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 100% of 8 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.8/10.[3] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 81 out of 100, based on 4 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[4]

Accolades

Award Ceremony date Category Recipient(s) Result Ref.
Locarno Film Festival 17 August 2024 Golden Leopard Youth (Hard Times) Special mention [1][5]
FIPRESCI Prize Won [6]
Junior Jury Award, Environment is Quality of Life Prize Won
Taipei Golden Horse Awards 23 November 2024 Best Documentary Feature Nominated [7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Qing chun (Ku)". Locarno Film Festivala. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
  2. ^ a b Roberts, Duncan. "Luxembourg co-production makes history with Venice selection". Luxembourg Times. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
  3. ^ "Youth". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved September 9, 2024.
  4. ^ "Youth". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved September 9, 2024.
  5. ^ "Locarno77: The Pardo d'Oro goes to Akiplėša (Toxic) by Saulė Bliuvaitė, a striking vision of the teenage female body as a battleground". Locarno Film Festival. Retrieved 19 August 2024.
  6. ^ Lodge, Guy. "Lithuanian Teen Drama 'Toxic' Wins Big at Locarno Film Festival". Variety. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
  7. ^ Wong, Silvia (2024-10-03). "'Dead Talents Society' leads Taiwan's Golden Horse Awards nominations". Screen International. Retrieved 2024-10-04.