Italian Premiere | In Competition
China, 2024, 124’, Mandarin
Directed by: Jiang Jiachen
Screenplay: Wu Tao, Ma Yiran
Cinematography (color): Qian Tiantian
Editing: Yang Hongyu
Art Direction: Meng Xun
Music: Fu Kang
Producers: Wu Tao, Wang Donghui
Executive Producer: Guan Hu
Production Company: iQIYI Inc.
Cast: Li Jiuxiao (Yonggan), Wang Qianyuan (Rock), Yang Haoyu (the father), Liang Chao, Pan Bin-long, Shang Yuxian, Pierre Bourdaud (Sanchez), William Knowles
Date of First Release in Territory: TBA
In 2014 the Chongqing Dockers team made history by winning the very first American football championship in China. Clash reconstructs how the Chongqing Dockers were formed, fictionalising certain aspects and transforming it into a sparkling dramedy. Rather than simply depicting a story of poverty and redemption by people living on the margins of society, it focuses on the dynamics of the relationship between the members of the team, a diverse group of oddballs. Directed by Jiang Jiachen, who already made a name for himself in 2018 with the satire Looking for Lucky, and supervised by Guan Hu, a seasoned filmmaker who has his finger on the pulse of young audiences, the film juxtaposes comic situations with dramatic ones, accompanying them not only with spectacular views of the city of Chongqing – which, thanks to the cinematography of Qian Tiantian, one of China’s few female cinematographers, once again proves to be the most photogenic city in China – but also with musical interludes and a hip-hop soundtrack that contributes to creating an atmosphere of perpetual dynamism.
American football is not a sport for the “poor,” least of all in China where those who practise the sport come from affluent social-economic backgrounds. In the film, however, the lead character, Liu Yonggan, is the young offspring of a more family of modest means, that for eighty years has been selling tofu pudding – a famous snack in Sichuanese cuisine – in Shapingba, a working-class neighbourhood in Chongqing. Liu Yonggan’s patriarchal father uses his son to make home deliveries, and by dint of running from one side of the city to the other since he was a child, Liu Yonggan has become famous in the area for being “fast and furious” and is referred to as the Runaway King or Pudding Boy. When he stumbles across a team practice of American football and sees an ad for the Eternity Bowl, the first Chinese championship of the sport that promises a prize of one million RMB for the winning team, Liu Yonggan immediately decides to form a team. He recruits a group of unlikely players from among his acquaintances – an athletic freight hauler experiencing marital problems, a middle-aged corporate manager starting to have sexual insecurity issues, a small-time neighbourhood gangster, a frustrated policeman, etc. The team finds an equally unlikely sponsor in a quirky local mafia boss, and they begin training under a young Mexican coach who was supposedly a professional American football player in Texas but ended up teaching English in a Chongqing primary school. A young nerd well-versed in media communication is recruited to promote the team’s image.
When deciding on the team name, since according to local legend, 80 per cent of Chongqing’s population are descendants of the dock workers who used to labour on the Yangzi River, the group decides to proudly adopt the name: they will be called the Chongqing Dockers! Predictably, the group of dreamers have moments of enthusiasm, others of despair, they fall out and have the kind of experiences portrayed in many a sports film. The dream of glory that eggs the team on seems to evaporate from time to time, especially when Liu Yonggan’s determination and enthusiasm falter in the face of seemingly insurmountable difficulties. But there is strength in numbers, and while the departure of even a single member can cause the whole team to falter, together they become invincible, especially with the help of a miraculous “rainbow pass.”
The final championship match against the Shanghai professional team, entertaining and expertly filmed, takes on epic proportions, and although the result is a foregone conclusion, the tension remains high until the very end. The film ends with a dedication that sums up its moral: “For those who live in the gutter but look up at the stars.”
Jjang Jiachen
Jjang Jiachen (b. 1984) is a screenwriter, director and editor. He teaches at the School of Media and Animation of the Luxun Academy of Fine Arts. He has worked on numerous films and television series. In 2016, he was selected as one of the 15 most promising directors in the CDFG China Young Directors Support Program.
SELECTED FILMOGRAPHY
2018 – Looking for Lucky
2021 – I’m OK
2024 – Clash