An intellectually engaging movie.
NEW YORK TIMES

Jia uses large-scale vignettes, filmed in sequence shots, to chart ten years of far-reaching social changes and their psychological repercussions. A masterly achievement.
TIME OUT

Jia Zhang-Ke’s style has an honesty that may be limited, but is admirable, too. He is the opposite of flamboyant, without being dull.
EYE FOR FILM

The film has moments of vivid insight into modern China. No other film-maker conveys so clearly how the bullying communist regime infantilises its citizens
THE GUARDIAN

An intimate epic about the disillusionment of the young people who grew up in the Eighties, it depicts the displacement of Maoist culture by popular culture in everyday life.
THE TELEGRAPH