Unknown Pleasures (film) - Production

Production

"At first it was the bleak and lonely buildings that attracted me. When I saw the streets filled with lonely, directionless people, I became interested in them."

The idea for Unknown Pleasures first came from Jia Zhangke's short film, In Public, his entry in a documentary competition sponsored by the 2001 Jeonju International Film Festival held in South Korea. The competition (which also drew entries from Tsai Ming-liang and John Akomfrah) required that the shorts be filmed entirely in digital video. While Jia had originally intended only to film the derelict factories in Datong, the filming with digital video would soon inspire the director to begin production of Unknown Pleasures. As Jia stated at a news conference: "At first it was the bleak and lonely buildings that attracted me. When I saw the streets filled with lonely, directionless people, I became interested in them."

Unknown Pleasures was filmed using digital video in only nineteen days, as a result of time and budgetary constraints. In his production notes, Jia claims that the use of digital video produced a slight color discrepancy that lent itself to the tone he wanted the film to take. Additionally, the use of digital cameras meant a more streamlined production and greater ease of movement. As a result, Jia was able to begin shooting a mere three weeks after developing the idea for the film.

According to Jia, the final scene of Xiao Ji riding down the highway as a thunderstorm approaches would not have been possible had traditional film cameras been used. But because of the flexibility of digital video, Jia Zhangke was able to capture the scene with the storm and in the director's words, creates a moment where the "environment is complementing internal feelings." At the same time, use of digital video restricted Jia. He noted in an interview shortly after the release of the film that he and cinematographer Yu Lik-wai were forced to cut back on exterior scenes due to the drawbacks of filming on digital video in sunlight.