Bored Youth (2000) dir. Zhao Liang

In a video called “Bored Youth” by Zhao Liang (b. 1971), a teenaged actor is walking through the sorry remains of a declining traditional neighborhood of Beijing. We watch him go inside dark, empty houses, and hear rocks falling down, window panes shattering or objects being smashed, as the protagonist is joining in and speeding up the destruction. Slow music without any distinctive rythm accompanies the sequences and enhances the monotony that the film conveys. With its title “Bored Youth” the video also brings to mind the concept of the so-called “no-future generation” ascribed to Chinese youth. As long-grown traditions become lost and replaced by a life where one always has to go faster, higher, or further, the younger population especially does not always end up in boundless enthusiasm; aimlessness and often total resignation are common effects of these developments, too.