Lingchi: Echoes of a Historical Photograph (2002)

Overview

Inspired by a photograph taken by a French soldier in the early 1900s of a ‘lingchi’ execution, Chen created a high-impact film that reconstructed this brutal form of punishment for criminals who had committed heinous crimes in feudal China. Lingchi – Echoes of a Historical Photograph opens with the gruesome execution of a condemned man in extreme slow motion. The crowd of witnesses eagerly await to collect blood and pieces of skin. Chen interweaves the event with images of the ruins of the Summer Palace after the second Opium War (1860), and also with remnants of abandoned factories and suffering workers. While the recurrent appearance of the haunting black wounds on the condemned man’s chest connects history with the present, it is also a provocative yet cruel metaphor for the cultural and political hegemony from imperialism to the current global context. Chen’s film opens a dialogue with viewers on the ruthless and barbaric events that happen in contemporary society.