08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Wall Street Journal
‘Caught by the Tides' Review: The Ebb and Flow of Love
In 'Caught by the Tides,' veteran director Jia Zhangke contemplates a changing nation, the passage of time and the sting of regret in the form of a leisurely, impressionistic tribute to his wife filmed over the course of more than 20 years.
That actress, Zhao Tao, plays Qiaoqiao, who as the film opens is a young singer-actress-model who is struggling to make a living in the north Chinese city of Datong in 2001. Among other gigs, she works in a club, where her boyfriend, Bin (Li Zhubin), is the manager. The pair have an uneasy relationship, yet she seems broken when he proposes to leave town and move to a faraway city to seek his fortune, informing her by text that he'll come retrieve her once he's settled.
