Awarded the Best Documentary at the Venice Film Festival, Jia Zhangke’s slow-paced and meditative film looks into the reality of China’s fashion industry—production of clothes, their function and meaning in the modern world—focusing on the work of successful fashion designer Ma Ke.
Ma Ke is the founder of the brand Wu Yong (which means “useless” in Chinese). This project on the junction of art and fashion opposes fashion industry undermining the involvement of nonprofessional, underpaid workers in the powerful mass market economy. The film raises the subjects of production and function of clothes in modern society, allowing to look at production and consumption processes from different perspectives.
Useless
Director: Jia Zhangke
China, 2007. 80 min. 16+