Quote:
Part II, called “Remnants,” and is set in a shantytown whose living conditions mirror the dilapidation of the state-run factories seen in Part I. The Chinese title is "???," which might be translated "Alluring Facepowder Street," or "Cream and Facepowder Street." Evocative of feminine charms, it is the new name of an area once known as "Handmaiden's Grave.” The prettied-up new name glosses over the area's rundown squalor. Taken as the title for Part II, it is deeply ironic about newfound “progress” in Shenyang’s shift towards a privatized economy, no different perhaps from applying fresh makeup to a dead handmaiden to make her appear revived. The erotic connotations of “alluring facepowder” also calls to mind the preoccupation of jobless youth: picking up girls.
"Remnants" is the elegiac title for the neighborhood, which is slated to be demolished for commercial development.
In the English captions, it is called “Rainbow Street.” Part II opens with an upbeat lottery event there. “Rainbow” aptly describes the garishly colorful trash from lottery tickets discarded on the ground after the momentary prospect of a big windfall has passed.
I was not at all nitpicking the translation, just calling attention to how the different titles do different things. The English subtitles (credited to Cindy Carter for translation) are very well done, especially for conveying tone and register of speech.
Grand Prize, International Documentary Festival, Marseille, 2003
Grand Prize, Festival du Film, Yamagata, 2003
Grand Prize, International Documentary Festival, Lisbon, 2002
http://www.filesonic.com/file/959664601/West.of.the.Tracks.Part.2.Remnants.2003.DVDRip.XviD-KG.avi
http://www.wupload.com/file/127006/West.of.the.Tracks.Part.2.Remnants.2003.DVDRip.XviD-KG.avi
1.95
no pass