Jia Zhangke is praised as the most internationally prominent and celebrated figure of the Six-Generation of Chinese filmmakers. This book provides an examination the content and forms of Jias featured films and analyzes their merits and faults.

Jias films often narrate the lives of ordinary Chinese people against the backdrop of the political-economic changes. The author conducts an in-depth analysis of how this change have ferociously impinged upon the characters living conditions since China integrated itself with the world economy in the high tide of accelerated globalization since the 1970s. The author focuses on discussing the politics of dignity expressed by Jias allegorical renditions to explore the directors political unconsciousness and cultural-political notions.

This book maps ten of Jia Zhangkes films onto three major themes: Jias filmmaking and China in the market society; truth claims and political unconscious; post-socialist modernity in the age of globalization. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of Chinese film studies, as well as other disciplines, such as political science, sociology, anthropology, etc.