In his 2006 film, Still Life, Jia Zhangke creates an enigmatic case study in alienation and displacement. Through the use of space, both literal and figurative, and long, extended shots that expand the perception of time, Zhangke tells the story of a people victimized by their environment. What is perhaps most striking about the film, beyond the existentialist and political overtones, is the division between the cold, demonstrative attitude that the government adopts towards its citizens and the warm, caring daily interactions between the people themselves. The protagonist, Han Sanming, arrives at Fengjie City in a manner almost as languid as the boat ride there. The story follows a narrative plot, albeit a non-linear one, with characters who move in and out of this piece of cinema based on tone. However, with each casual, non-sequitur appearance there is a small impact on the viewer, slowly immersing them in the world in which the people in the film live. The audience comes to feel a kindred spirit in Han's struggle to come to terms with himself and life. , and share his victories as well as his defeats. The people and places in the film are no different from the experiences we have to endure in our lives, though not literally, but in attitude and approach. Just like Han, we have all felt the kind support of trusted friends and suffered losses that cannot be fully expressed in words. Still Life's most personal moment is the juxtaposition of the final dialogue between Han and his friends and the government graffiti sprayed on abandoned buildings. Han arrives in Fengjie as a time capsule, retaining only memories of the city before the construction of the Three The Gorges Dam which is now in a... middle of paper ......cannot help but be torn apart by the conflict and struggle that the people of Fengjie are forced to accept as a convention on the cloak of normal behavior. Still Life is extraordinary in that it allows for open interpretation by the audience. Different aspects of the film have varying degrees of personal relevance and you can extrapolate as much or as little as you see fit to reveal the underlying meaning. Personally speaking, there is nothing more important than the steadfast loyalty of trustworthy friends, and for someone of that inclination, Still Life certainly embodies that ideal. Through visualizing a discrepant world, Zhangke puts the human condition under the microscope to show that it is not the externalities of our environment that have the greatest impact on us, but it is the very malleable social domain in which we live that gives us identity and identity . definition.