Wheat

Wheat brings the baseness of the body into the realm of narrative epics, which are traditionally inhabited by ethereal characters holding lofty ideals. However, it does this in a way that is intimate rather than carnivalesque. The characters are presented through their desires, which make up the image of a life cut in two by war. The narrative strikes a balance between humorously wise satire and a tensely tragic drama suffused with the death and devastation that creeps into the characters’ world as their dreamt-of idyll begins to buckle. In this respect, Wheat differs not only from narrative spectacles such as Red Cliff, which shows adoration of an idealised war, but also from tragic epics like Curse of the Golden Flower. Thanks to the physical style, it doesn’t offer a metaphorical drama about surreal characters representing universal human virtues and vices, but instead presents a brutally close-up look at lives destroyed by war, despite the predominantly superficial historical context. (02/23/2013)