Perspective - Chinese Cinema Today and Tomorrow
Dream Weaver
(Zhu meng) by Gu Jun
Documentary / 2008 / 94'
Starring: Gao Guilan, Zhang Yiying, Huang Yan, Jacques Herzog, Gao Jian, Pierre de Meuron, Xiong Jingbin, Nai Ruoyu, Jiang Yuyuan, Deng Linlin, Liu Xiang, Sun Haiping, Zhu Bingwen
Narrator: Gu Jun
Director of Photography: Luo Ling
Composers: Shigeru Umebayashi, Hao Jian, Xiao Ding
The Film
Officially selected to represent China at the Academy Awards 2099, Dream Weaver is a documentary that presents remarkable achievements in five interweaved stories of five different groups of ordinary people during the preparation for the Olympic Games in Beijing. This is a Chinese vision of this historic event. For seven years, from July 2001 to August 2006, the camera of documentary filmmaker GU Jun followed fourteen different stories, large and small, all linked with the Olympic deadline.
The interweaved stories include star hurdler Liu Xiang and his path to success, the construction workers who built the National Stadium, a local family who had to move to make way for the construction of the stadium, three young gymnasts in training and their trials and tribulations, and an Olympic security guard team.
The soundtrack is quite good, with music composed by SHIGERU Umebayashi, a famous Japanese composer known for his work on big feature films like In the Mood for Love or 2046 by Wong Kar Wai. The result is a real document to this important historical event.