An acrylic painting on wood panel, titled 'Quitting', of a woman in blue striped pajamas lying in mental ward bed looking up at black Chinese dragon that is flying in the air. A roman candle leaning against the bed is firing towards the wall.

Quitting

(2001, Zhang Yang)

I talked briefly already about the life of actor Jia Hongsheng when I painted about, Frozen. From that movie I became interested in this film, Quitting, which is an autobiographical film about his life of addiction. I enjoyed the movie but it’s hard for me to recommend it to anyone. Its main draw come from being able to relate to his insane mentality, that being a complete asshole is justifiable when day-to-day life starts to serve no purpose, with no way to elevate thought. The nature of the film amazes me as every person in the film was in his real life and are playing the role of themselves. His family is his real family, the mental patients and doctors are playing themselves etc. Its an intervention caught on film.


A close-up screenshot of Jia Hongsheng wearing a patterned bandana playing as himself. From the film 'Quitting'. An animated gif of a scene from the film 'Quitting' with a forward tracking shot of Jia Hongsheng sticking his head out of a window as his arms stretch out. A screenshot from the movie 'Quitting' of Jia Hongsheng menacingly sticking his head outside of a window.

© 2001 - Xi'an Film Studio