Interesting to discover director Jai Zhangke not in a Chinese film festival, but in the "Le French May" program. Sharing my time between him and Alain Delon, I ended up watching only two of his movies shown in this series, his latest "Shijie" (2004) and earliest "Xiao Wu" (1997), in that order. I'll catch "Zhantai" (Platform) (2000) and "Ren Xiao Yao" (Unknown Pleasure) (2002) on some other occasions.I agree with some of the views expressed in IMDb that Shijie has become somewhat commercialized, losing some of the rough innocence of the earlier three, which could be collectively referred to as the Fengyang trilogy, Fengyang being director Jia's hometown.With a perpetual expression of "I don't give a damn" written on his face, Xiao Wu is a loser personified. Hidden behind this mask of force field (apologies for a really inappropriately borrowed term but I'm just too caught up with the second coming of the Force) is the young man's insecurity, frustration and alienation.Xiao Wu makes a big deal out of not being invited to a ex-fellow-pickpocket-buddy's wedding because he can't understand why somebody no better than he can all of a sudden become a role model of a successful entrepreneur. He spends fifty yuans on a karaoke girl and insists on getting full value, not for sex, but just for her time to accompany him all over town. Actually he ends up accompanying her to her hairdresser. Her sickness provides an opportunity to bring out the hidden kindness in Xian Wu and, for a moment, what looks like a tender romance seems promising, until she goes away, unannounced, with a rich man from Shanxi. Later we also get to see his complete alienation with his family.The last scene, the petty thief picked up by the impersonal but reasonable authority, appears on the surface to be quite inconsequential but is deep down most heart-breakingly tragic.

Xiaowu is an average young man in a typical small town in China. He is shy, stubborn, values friendship, sometimes vanity-driven, sometimes even romantic. And he is a pick-pocket.It is surprising that although hundreds of millions of people lead their lives like xiaowu, "Xiao Wu" is the first candid depiction of their life in the many years of chinese filmmaking. I was particularly struck by the camera's honesty: run-down buildings along littered streets, filthy public bath places, hidden brothels camouflaged as karaoke shops...As the country opens up for economical changes, some people have "their own ways" to take advantage of the change and became rich, while the rest struggle to make a living. The film provided vivid portraits of people you probably know or have heard of: the former pick-pocket buddy of xiaowu who became a famous entrepreneur and grew ashamed of having a friend who picks pockets; the girl who works at a Karaoke but tells her mom that she's at school, who dreams of becoming a star and fell in love with xiaowu but eventually "contracted" herself to a rich man from Shan Xi...Even if you are not particularly interested in the setting of the film, the universal conflict of dignity and making a living, vanity and friendship, dream and reality, makes this film very interesting to watch.Bravo, Jia ZhangKe! I give this film a 10/10 for being the first of a genre that will shine in chinese cinema.

I have seen the movie,but the quality of videotape is very bad,and cause the conversation is shangxi(a north province in china),so thought i am a chinese,i can't hardly hear it clearly.speak generelly,this movie reflect ture life condition in small town of china.many of people in town like xiaowu liang had been influenced deep by pop culture from Hongkong or China itself.and xiaowu is a poor low class in China.we are laughing when the movie play,but we are also shocked after the movie over.

This no budget film is shot with a hand held camera. It shows, but this does not affect the quality of the film. The director has made an intense movie about, Chinese street life. However the culture in China is very different from the west, we can see that the problems of little Wu are universal.