A film portraying Chinese people and spaces during a period of upheaval. While traveling all over China, the movie takes a moment to notice a space. It captures a variety of people, including miners, workers, fishermen, farmers, sick people, and students from various places such as mining, fishing, and farming villages, urban factories, construction sites, schools and hospitals. The film calmly reflects the characters and spaces behind the scene when the development was successful. Then, it tries to communicate with one of the characters quietly. Sometimes he could be the director himself. Like August Sander’s pictures, the film captures the people of the spaces, especially the working class, embracing the static rhythm of the picture and the dynamic rhythm of the movie. The movie captures the characters of the spaces in fragmented pieces to show the overall aspects of Chinese society. When you match the pieces, you can see contemporary Chinese society. The latest film by Wang Xiaoshuai, renowned for Beijing Bicycle in Korea, goes beyond the strong narrative. Chinese Portraits crosses the boundaries of films, photography, and art images. (Lee Seung-min)