Zhangke Jia | 2015 | China | 131’

An extraordinary performance by Zhao Tao is the beating heart of this ambitious, time-jumping, continent-straddling drama, a state-of-China epic which begins with a cannon-blast of Pet Shop Boys that echoes its characters’ onward-striding quest for self-determination and social advancement. These are citizens who just want to Go West – if not geographically then cognitively. Zhao is the film’s racing heart, and gives a performance of extraordinary detail and depth of feeling in three time periods: ravishing as a young woman and anxious as a mother before a bittersweet and beautiful finale. Wonderful film-making.