Jia Zhang Ke is perhaps the most distinctive director working in China now. His films are beautifully observed, social realist snapshots of a society in flux. The Venice Film Festival winner Still Life fits the same mould. It's set in Fengjie, a town now submerged as part of the Three Gorges dam project. A low-key, almost documentary-style meditation on the final days of a community through the eyes of two outsiders, it's a fascinating, understated masterpiece.

A world is dismantled to a rhythm of pickaxes; migrant workers cram into rooms in the buildings still remaining. And then, for no apparent reason, Jia lands a CGI spaceship on a nearby hill. The symbolism is baffling; the crude computer imagery starkly at odds with the rest of the film. Fortunately, the rest of the film is rather wonderful, so ultimately you forgive Jia his eccentric device.

PG, 109mins

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