Poet On A Business Trip (2016) - Anqi Ju

Angi Ju's Poet On A Business Trip is an utterly unique film which chronicles a young poet as he sets off on a "business trip" through China's remote Xinjiang Uygur Autnomous Region.  As the poet himself describes it in the opening frame, a "business trip" by definition is when someone is sent out to take care of work-related matters.  Being a poet, he has never been on a business trip, with the film being a document of his self-inflicted business trip over 12 years ago.  A film that doesn't quite conform to genre restrictions, A Poet On A Business trip is best described as a bawdy travelogue of sorts, where the young poet ventures from place to place, conversing with the locals in the seedy restaurants, brothels, and hotels.  Poet On A Business Trip is certainly cerebral but I wouldn't describe it as particularly meditative, being more a film interested in providing the viewer a glimpse of the disappearing world through this rural region of China.  One of my favorite conversations of the film takes place between our poet and a man living in the secluded countryside.  As they both lament about their different lifestyles, the film exhibits their underlying envy for something different, with the poet intoxicated by the tranquility of the countryside while the man from the country finds himself enamored by the potential excitement, fast-paced nature of the unknown city of life.  A Poet On A Business Trip is funny, introspective, and fascinating, as Angi Ju has created what amounts to a quite literal work of art, where the lens works in unison with the pen, as 16 melancholy poems of the poets' experiences are superimposed on the camera's imagery which documents his experiences.  Angi Ju's Poet On A Business Trip isn't particularly interested in existentialism, but the film is very humanizing in its own bawdy way, beautifully capturing the essence of traveling, the calming solitude it can create, as the displacement from the normal day-to-day can provide a welcome change.  

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