{"id":8711,"date":"2014-05-05T00:16:53","date_gmt":"2014-05-05T04:16:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=8711"},"modified":"2014-05-05T00:16:53","modified_gmt":"2014-05-05T04:16:53","slug":"film-beijing-ants-the-2013","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=8711","title":{"rendered":"Film: Beijing Ants, The (2013)"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"BeijingAnts_pic\"<\/a>Film<\/strong>: Very Good<\/p>\n

Transfer<\/strong>: \u00a0n\/a \u00a0Extras<\/strong>:\u00a0n\/a<\/p>\n

Label:\u00a0n\/a<\/strong><\/p>\n

Region:<\/strong>\u00a0n\/a<\/p>\n

Released:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0n\/a<\/p>\n

Genre:<\/strong>\u00a0 Documentary \/ Hot Docs 2014<\/p>\n

Synopsis:<\/strong>\u00a0Unsettling footage reveals the awful behaviour a family encounters as they urgently seek an apartment in pricey Beijing after their landlord gives them a harsh choice – pay up or get out.<\/p>\n

Special Features:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0n\/a<\/span><\/p>\n

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Review:<\/strong><\/p>\n

When Ryuii Otsuka\u2019s family of three are given notice by the daughter of their supposed landlords to either accept a steep rent increase or vacate their apartment by the end of the month, things swerve to some horrible extremes in this fascinating documentation using hidden and out-in-the-open handycam footage that captures the fast-shifting temperaments and appalling behaviour of people.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also a glimpse into Chinese culture through the eyes of Japanese director Otsuka, who for whatever reason, sensed a need to film everything from start to finish. The unedited 11 minutes of hidden camera that starts Beijing Ants<\/strong> sets the tone for the lies, manipulations, and desperation encountered by the family, and although there is a resolution to their crises at the end, their experiences with fiery landlords, corrupt police, non-assertive realty agents, fatigued movers, and scummy nightclub owners reveal the way respect, saving face, and a need for closure are vital to civic and social order. Even with all the hot tempers, there are incontestable boundaries no one’s willing to cross, and a sense of dark humour that keeps the family sane at the worst of times, but the nastiness and anguish that\u2019s captured on film is raw and unsettling.<\/p>\n

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\u00a9 2014 Mark R. Hasan<\/p>\n

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External References:<\/strong>
\nIMDB \u00a0— \u00a0Hot Docs 2014 Listing<\/a>
\n\u00a0<\/span>
\nVendor Search Links:<\/strong>
\nAmazon.ca<\/a>\"\" \"\" —\u00a0<\/span> Amazon.com<\/a>\"\" \"\" —\u00a0<\/span> Amazon.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Ryuii Otsuka\u2019s family of three are given notice by the daughter of their supposed landlords to either accept a steep rent increase or vacate their apartment by the end of the month, things swerve to some horrible extremes in this fascinating documentation using hidden…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[18],"tags":[2733,2732,461,2711,2731],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8nuyW-2gv","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8711"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8711"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8711\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8724,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8711\/revisions\/8724"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8711"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8711"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8711"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}