Mao by Mao

A dry, cerebral collage that makes you work, setting official words against telling images so the irony lands slowly and pointedly.

Directed by

Francis Deron, René Viénet

Genres

Documentary, History

Starring

Mao Zedong

Overview

A film-détournement biography of Mao Tse-tung in which the life of the recently deceased Great Helmsman is told in his own words, using quotes culled from various Red Guard publications. The rise to power of the film's namesake appears as the inevitable outcome of a dialectical logical. Or so the voice-over might lead one to believe. If the usual practice of détourned films is for the soundtrack to undermine the image, here the reverse occasionally takes place. The images critique Mao's words. They show that which, even in the official visual record of the times, the narrative elides. The film is dedicated to Li Yhi Zhe, the nominal author of a famous Democracy Wall critique of the Maoist state.

How it feels

Satirical, cynical, dark and earnest. Measured and needs your attention.

About

Politics, power, media, deception

Content

Mild violence and gore. No sexual content or swearing.

Note

Written by AI, so it can be wrong. Full breakdown

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