It is Poetry Day. Well Montana has made it so. I have never been that 'into' poetry. But I wish I was.

Today I have been to see 24 City screening as part of the festival. I'm sure they screened this movie today on purpose (it would be an incredible coincidence if they didn't), but I did not make the connection between poetry day and this film until I was in the theatre watching.

The film is about a factory that once produced secret military hardware but is moving to a new greenfield site and the site of the old factory is becoming a housing and shopping development called 24 City. It is part fact and part fiction. According to the movie the name 24 City comes from an old poem: the cherished hibiscus of 24 city in full bloom, a flourishing flower

The film is broken up with WB Yeats poetry quoted across a black screen, including this one that is particularly poignant:

Though leaves are many, the root is one;

Through all the lying days of my youth

I swayed my leaves and flowers in the sun;

Now I may wither into the truth.

I am not sure what I thought of this film. I did enjoy the aesthetics of it. But emotionally I felt unattached, even though I think some people were sniffling in the audience (or was it swine flu?!)

Tony Rayns, London Film Festival, said this of the film "Jia once again humanises China's modern history - and turns it into poetry."

You can watch a trailer of this movie on YouTube. And read a review from the New York Times here.

Image from a scene in the film from NY Times