SHOOT FOR THE CONTENTS Asian Cinema

Trinh T Minh-ha’s Shoot for the Contents, whose title plays on the meanings of an ancient Chinese guessing game, is an excursion into the maze of allegorical storytelling in China. Weaving points of view of both insiders and outsiders from dillerent realms of social and artistic activities, the film ponders questions of politics and culture as refracted by the events in Tienanmen Square. Sounds and voices punctuate graphically composed video images, film footage of rural China, and stylized interviews, layering two women’s voices with folk songs, the sayings of Mao and Confucius, and the words of artists, philosophers, and other cultural workers.