Resurrection

“That which withers in the age of mechanical reproduction is the aura of the work of art. This is a symptomatic process whose significance points beyond the realm of art. One might generalize by saying: the technique of reproduction detaches the reproduced object from the domain of tradition. By making many reproductions it substitutes a plurality of copies for a unique existence. And in permitting the reproduction to meet the beholder or listener in his own particular situation, it reactivates the object reproduced. These two processes lead to a tremendous shattering of tradition which is the obverse of the contemporary crisis and renewal of mankind. Both processes are intimately connected with the contemporary mass movements. Their most powerful agent is the film. Its social significance, particularly in its most positive form, is inconceivable without its destructive, cathartic aspect, that is, the liquidation of the traditional value of the cultural heritage. This phenomenon is most palpable in the great historical films. It extends to ever new positions. In 1927 Abel Gance exclaimed enthusiastically: “Shakespeare, Rembrandt, Beethoven will make films . . . all legends, all mythologies and all myths, all founders of religion, and the very religions . . . await their exposed resurrection, and the heroes crowd each other at the gate.” - Walter Benjamin, The Work of Art in the age of Mechanical Reproduction. (Despite my additions below, I do believe that this excerpt provides a perfectly satisfactory review of this film by itself.) Bi Gan’s Resurrection is a 5 part ode to cinema and resurrection of artful media in a neo-Lynchian style that concludes the Kaili trilogy with a masterful flourish. And yes I said trilogy. Because, Kaili Blues, Long Days journey into Night, and Resurrection is in fact a staggeringly ambitious trilogy that must be taken together as a unified poetic narrative in order to fully appreciate its cinematic and intellectual magnitude. Each “chapter” of this film coincides with one of the senses starting with sight, hearing, taste, and touch, before finishing with time. It achieves this by sowing together a patchwork of styles tinged with the piercing self-awareness of post modernity. Bi Gan rejuvenates the once revolutionary styles of silent German expressionism, solemn neo-noir, gritty Y2K romance, and classical Chinese folk. Concluding with his own curiously neo-lynchian style that draws from his own experience as a poet serving as the symbolic culmination of previous cinematic tradition and effectively the Resurrection of what is “the most important of all the arts.” - Lenin, Collected Works Although nebulous and ponderous the film is not at all meaningless or trivial as some unfortunate detractors claim. Bi Gan’s film responds to such criticism by subtextually echoing the sentiment of Lu Xun’s Diary of a Madman amidst a tearful indictment of the passive audience and mechanical reproduction, ”What they like best is for a man to take off his belt, and hang himself from a beam; for then they can enjoy their heart's desire without being blamed for murder” - Lu Xun, 狂人日记 However, Bi Gan does not satisfy himself with this condemnation. As he concludes the film with a clear flourishing crescendo that announces the death and subsequent resurrection of what Benjamin would call the “Aura of art”. Providing the material manifestation of Abel Gance’s 1927 prophecy in perhaps the most crucial of times, “Shakespeare, Rembrandt, Beethoven will make films . . . all legends, all mythologies and all myths, all founders of religion, and the very religions . . . await their exposed resurrection, and the heroes crowd each other at the gate.” In this sense Bi Gan is a testament to the wisdom in Gandalf’s classic phrase, “A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to..." And in doing so, has pulled us ever so slightly from the precipice of the proverbial (and very real) Nietzschean abyss. Crucially, an understanding of this film and the broader Kaili Trilogy cannot be achieved rationally as the film does not intend to convince you of any coherent rationale. Rather, much like the myth of Galahad and the Holy Grail the significance of the film is predicated on a heavily baptised imagination that does not lend itself to interpretation by the spirit of bitterness that is dispassionate and dispossessed contemporary intellect. In the words of Gilles Deleuze, and contrary to Francisco Goya’s famous etching (The Sleep of Reason), “It is not the slumber of reason that engenders monsters, but vigilant and insomniac rationality.” - Anti-Oedipus Whilst the film itself has a far more intricate series of mediations throughout each of the 5 chapters, in light of my own logic, I shall leave the subtle vicissitudes of this magnum opus to your imagination. “Go to your bosom; knock there, and ask your heart what it doth know.” - Shakespeare, Measure for Measure References: Benjamin, W. (1936). The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. Penguin Books. Gilles Deleuze, & Félix Guattari. (2009). Anti-Oedipus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia. Penguin Books. (Original work published 1972) Lu. (2013). 狂人日记 : 鲁迅小说精选 / Kuang ren ri ji : Lu Xun xiao shuo jing xuan. Zhongguo Hua Bao Chu Ban She. Shakespeare, W. (2005). Measure for Measure. Washington Square Press. (Original work published 1623) Vladimir Lenin. (2026). Lenin Collected Works. Marxists.org. www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/cw/index.htm#volume42