An acrylic painting on wood panel, titled 'Frozen', of a pantless woman holding an active roman candle while eating pink soap.

Frozen

(1997, Wang Xiaoshuai)

Frozen eh? You thought this was a post about some shitty animated Disney movie? No. This Frozen is an artsy Chinese movie about a group of performance artists with the main protagonist announcing his plan to commit public suicide from the four elements, ending with death by freezing. One of the best scenes in the movie, one that inspired me to paint, was of two of the performance artists sitting at a table trying to each eat a bar of soap while a crowd watched. I don’t even like performance art but that is a pretty intense message. It’s all based on a true story and the lead actor, Jia Hongsheng, put his health on the line in order to film some of these scenes. You can find him in another great film, Suzhou River, which I recommend. Sadly, Jia Hongsheng actually committed suicide in 2010, jumping from his apartment building.


A close-up screenshot from the Chinese film 'Frozen' showing an artist wearing a white bandana with Chinese characters written on it. An animated gif of a scene from the Chinese film 'Frozen' of an artist eating soap with a knife and fork. A screenshot of a woman in a jean jacket running worried down a dark hallway. From the Chinese movie 'Frozen'.

© 1997 - International Film Circuit, Inc.