Mao by Mao

Overview

A film-détournement biography of Mao Tse-tung in which the life of the recently deceased Great Helmsman is told in his own words, using quotes culled from various Red Guard publications. The rise to power of the film's namesake appears as the inevitable outcome of a dialectical logical. Or so the voice-over might lead one to believe. If the usual practice of détourned films is for the soundtrack to undermine the image, here the reverse occasionally takes place. The images critique Mao's words. They show that which, even in the official visual record of the times, the narrative elides. The film is dedicated to Li Yhi Zhe, the nominal author of a famous Democracy Wall critique of the Maoist state.

Details

Status

Released

Release date

May 1, 1977

Original language

English

Spoken languages

English

Countries

France

Production

Ina,Les Films des Iles,INA

Cast

Mao Zedong

Director

Wu Xing-ming,Francis Deron,René Viénet

Producer

Helène Vager,Charles-Henri Favrod

Budget

Not recorded

Revenue

Not recorded

IMDb

tt0263713