Man in Black

In a rundown theatre, Wang Xilin, an elderly Chinese man, gets up naked and walks down to the stage. He dances, cries, plays the piano and sings in a deep voice. Then he tells his story...
An uncompromising portrait of Wang Xilin, 86, one of China's most important contemporary classical composers.Man in Black shows the body and soul of a man marked by a lifetime of suffering. His criticism of the Party's cultural policy earned him 14 years of persecution, imprisonment and torture. Rehabilitated in 1978, he continues to transpose into symphonies that what has marked his career and to speak openly of the betrayal of the first ideals of communism. His compositions being sidelined in China, he now works in Europe.

An encounter between an exceptional composer and a radical filmmaker, a document that bears witness to one man's life through his body, words and music.

Les âmes mortes (BM19), Mrs. Fang (BM18), Ta’ang (BM17), A l’ouest des rails – Rails (BM15), A l’ouest des rails – Rouille I (BM15), A l’ouest des rails – Rouille II (BM15), A l’ouest des rails – Vestiges (BM15), Crude Oil (BM15), L’argent du charbon (BM15), L’homme sans nom (BM15), Traces (BM15), Til Madness Do Us Part (BM15), Alone (BM13), West of Tracks (BM04)

Asian Shadows / Lya LI / lya@chineseshadows.com