Chinese director Jia Zhangke, still feeling the weight of his recent Golden Lion win at Venice for Still Life, will tackle youth gangs next for The Age Of Tattoo (Ciqing Shidai).
The story will focus on a group of street kids alive during the traumatic final years of Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution. "I want to focus on the small alleys of daily life that show the pain people suffered ... and how they were engulfed by the times," he told the Beijing News.
He’s already cast his female lead with regular collaborator Zhao Tao, and will start scouring kung fu schools for a male lead, as Tattoo will feature a first for the director – fight scenes.
As soon as the cast is in place, he’ll start shooting, though he expects the usual cold front from the Chinese authorities – his films rarely get official approval.