THE SABUKARU GUIDE TO CHINESE SUBCULTURAL MOVIES
Subcultures have a hard time surviving in China because they are often perceived as unfavorable or even dangerous to the stability of Chinese society- especially because subcultures often criticize societal norms and single out political issues. Nonetheless, China has many noteworthy films you should put on your “watch next” list.
The state recently has been tightening its grip by shrinking the boundaries of self expression allowed by youths, and, therefore, employing strict censorship systems targeting all forms of media including movies, magazines, and social media platforms.
具有对主流社会标准的批评性质的亚文化在中国很难自由生长，亚文化甚至被政府列为打压对 象。在国内严苛的电影审查制度下，与亚文化有关的电影更是少之又少。
There are a small number of indie filmmakers in China who fund their films from their own pockets, not for the box office, but just for recording and vocalizing youth movements that deviate from the mainstream. In Chinese subcultural scenes, filmmakers tend to document the realities of the subcultures rather than focus on personal creation. Even so, often documentation and immortalizing deviant lifestyles themselves are a violation of the law.
A still shot from the Chinese countercultural film We Were Smart
Filmmakers and other creatives despite the consequences of creating countercultural movies still choose to make art, exposing some of the most important facets of modern Chinese society. Issues ranging from sexuality, youth power, music, and sociopolitical tension between poorer rural communities juxtaposed with urban cosmopolitan life.
Here’s a brief guide to Chinese movies celebrating and exploring the influence of subculture on youth, the marginalized, and society at large.
在这一背景下，依旧有少数独立电影人自掏腰包不为票房，只是为了记录与发声。在中国的亚文 化场景里，影像创作者倾向于真实的纪录，而非个人化的创造。即便如此，记录本身即已是反 抗。
Sha Ma Te I Love You [Alternate title] We Were Smart by Li Yifan [2019]
We Were Smart also known by the alternate title Sha Ma Te, I Love You by Yi Lifan chronicles the rise and fall of Shamate subculture in China. Shamate is a Chinese subculture influenced by Japanese visual kei and US/ European glam rock aesthetics. Shamate style is characterized by exaggerated and cheap clothing featuring low slung jeans, high socks, and neon prints as well as hair styles dyed in rainbow assortments streaked with copious amounts of hair gel.
Most Shamate members are teenagers who emigrated from the countryside to work in big city factories, showing off their taste in fashion through maverick appearances deviating from socially acceptable nuanced styles. To Shamate style youths, fashion is more than a hobby, it’s an escape from their mundane factory lives, social isolation after leaving their hometowns, and abuse from their bosses who frequently engage in wage fraud or demand exceedingly long working hours. Shamate fashion is an armor against a cruel world and We Were Smart candidly documents their sociopolitical concerns through style documentary format.
杀马特是受到日本视觉系和欧美摇滚的影响的中国本土亚文化，穿着特点是夸张而廉价的服饰和 发型。杀马特群体大多是从乡村移居到大城市打工的年轻人，通过特立独行的外表炫耀自己的着 装品位。
Through the self-descriptions of the Shamate youths captured in fragmented videos and interviews, director Li Yifan reveals to audiences the conditions that led to Shamates rise and it’s impact on mainstream Chinese culture. Sadly,the subculture is declining under the violence from the state as well as unfavorable public opinions. The director of the film reveals the isolation of Shamate members and their alienation from the mainstream urban life through brutal investigations and candid videos with Shamate community members themselves.
The movie is a glimpse into the struggles and small triumphs of rural immigrant workers who use fashion as a means of self expression in a world that devalues and exploits them for cheap labour.
导演李一凡在电影中借助身为年轻工人的杀马特群体的自述，向观众描绘出杀马特文化形成的条 件、变化及如何在舆论暴力下走向式微。他通过详实且残酷的调查揭示了杀马特的孤立处境和与 城市主流生活之间的疏离。
The Panda Candy by Peng Lei [2007]
The director of The Panda Candy, Peng Lei, is the lead vocalist of the famous Chinese rock band New Pants. The process of The Panda Candy’s creation was very simple and DIY. During his experiences touring cities throughout China, Peng Lei picked out actors (and non-actors alike) and then shot clips used for the film spontaneously even without formal training in cinematography. Then,Peng put together these fragmented clips to make a complete movie. It tells the story of a lesbian and a heterosexual girl who each went on their own path. They meet accidentally in a karaoke bar and eventually fall in love. The touches upon topics such as gender diversity as well as the problems/ideologies of the new generation of artistic youths.
这部电影的导演彭磊是中国著名摇滚乐队新裤子的主唱。电影的制作十分简单，新裤子乐队每到 一个城市巡演过后都会挑选一名观众，临时拍摄一些片段。最后将这些零散的片段拼凑出一部完 整的电影。
Opening credits for The Panda Candy
As road trip movie with two queer female protagaonists and with a soundtrack filled with punk music, the film itself is controversial in the ways it chooses to tell a story that runs contrary to what is expected to young women in China.
这是一部关于中国女性、同性恋以及朋克音乐的公路旅行电影，讲述了一个同性恋女孩和一个异 性恋女孩各自进行了自己的恋爱旅行，最终走到了一起。在传统的中国探讨了性别多元的议题， 以及展现了中国新一代文艺青年的不同风貌。
Beijing Bastards by Zhang Yuan [1993]
Beijing Bastards was one of the first independently produced films in China. The film was partially funded by foreign investors, which captured a brief but creatively fertile period in modern Chinese history, when rockers had limited but still comparatively freer expression than they would have in ensuing years. The protagonists of the film are dissidents: musicians, painters, art students, and vagrants whose very existence is a challenge to what is expected of “model” Chinese citizen.
这是中国第一批独立电影之一。主角是一群社会的异见分子，他们是摇滚乐手、画家、艺术院校 的学生、混在北京的无业游民。
A still shot from Beijing Bastards.
The films narrative is staggered with footage of the live rock concerts, showing the reality of the problems and choices faced by outcast members of Chinese society. Beijing during the 80’s and 90’s was a hub for underground rock, that operated in dodgy clubs and bars featuring outcasts clad in ripped jeans while sporting long locks. In their eyes and in gritty footage of the film, Beijing is a marginalized city. The lead characters lives are also marginalized in a way that can’t be understood by normal citizens, which makes the film such a fascinating watch.
事件的叙述总是和摇滚乐队现场演唱交错出现，互相诠释，展现了这群因游离在主流社会外而倍 感迷茫的青年们的真实生活与面临的问题与抉择。北京在他们眼里是一个被边缘化的城市，他们 的生活也是一种不被理解的边缘化生活。
Madame by Qiu Jiongjiong [2010]
Madame is a documentary focusing on the life of multi-talented cabaret singer Qihui Fan, more commonly known by her stage name Madame Bi Langda, whose pursuit of beauty even under seemingly insurmountable odds gained her fans and respect amongst underground subcultures in China. Fan Qihui had a diverse identity, she was queer, a drag queen, a sex worker, a fashion designer,and an inspiration to those in China who don’t fit into rigid gender/sexual constraints.
A still shot from Madame
The film is meaningful because it’s not fueled by voyeuristic desire but instead intensely human; candid look at her multifaceted life, through uninterrupted explicit monologues. Fan Quihui committed suicide in 2010, and this film is a tribute to her fearless life and legacy.
这部纪录片是樊其辉的人生独白。樊其辉在现实世界中有着极度多元的身份，他是同性恋、变装 皇后、妓女、服装设计师、大学教授…他在 2010 年自杀身亡。
Still Life by Jia Zhangke [2006]
Still Life is set in the rural and ancient town of Fengjie, in China’s Three Gorges region. The film explores the town’s dusty and crumbling backdrop, offering a captivating portrayal of a community that is about be demolished due to an impending government sponsored hydro electric dam project and the intertwined lives of the people who live there.
Rather than trying to avoid the claustrophobia, dirt, and grit of a rural town on the verge of collapse, the film embraces it through long pans traveling through the villages humble markets, fields, and humble homes. In the backdrop of this looming destruction, two protagonists: a man and woman try to find their missing spouses in an environment on the brink of modernizing changes.
舞台下的同性恋裁缝和舞台上的女王碧浪达共同构建了樊其辉的社会身份。影片并是一种带有窥 视欲望的观察，仅仅建立在被拍摄者的魅力之上。它在表述一种另类生存状态的时候，彻底背弃 了道德压力，因此它包含着一种对主流意识形态的颠覆。
Carnival of Ropes by Yang Liping [2022]
Director Yang Liping was a student at Japan’s Institute of the Moving Image, and Carnival Of Ropes was his senior thesis project. The film follows the life story of Ben, the best-known Chinese nawashi [rope artist], the movie documents the intricate and visually stunning rope work he crafts, part of the art of shibari [Japanese style S&M], that binds and suspends willing individuals in these rope designs.
导演杨礼平是日本映画大学的一名学生，这部影片是他的毕业作品。电影中记录了 Ben 的人生故 事，他是中国最出色的绳缚艺术家，在各大艺术中心以及电子音乐俱乐部进行演出。
However, Ben's meager income from his rope art performances in bars and clubs can't support his daughter's and his own living expenses. This forces 35-year-old Ben to work as a salesman for a logistics company in Shenzhen. This is not only a problem that Ben has to face but also a common dilemma for young Chinese artists, thus focusing on the dilemma between performing your passion and dealing with the financial realities of life.
但艺术带来的微薄收入无法承担女儿的抚养费以及自己的生活费，今年三十五岁的 Ben 不得在深 圳一家物流公司从事销售工作。这不仅是 Ben 要面对的问题，也是中国年轻艺术家的普遍困境。
Words by Buzz Lee: The editor-in-chief of 529D Lab based in China, Buzz Lee tries recording everything rejected by mainstream society. Most of his articles have been deleted by the Chinese government.
Edited by Ora Margolis
Article Layout by Sadaf Omari
