Director Alison Klayman has done a spectacular job of capturing the life and art of Ai Weiwei in her documentary Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry. From the shooting techniques to the wide range of people interviewed, including Ai Weiwei himself, the viewer is able to get a sense of who exactly this artist/activist is— and what exactly it is that he stands for.
This documentary focuses not so much on the way Ai Weiwei creates his artworks, but rather the events and motives that drive him to create such controversial pieces. As viewers, we are able to engage with the artist through his own words in interviews, as well as from clips of his own movies and encounters with law enforcement. Never having heard of this particular artist before, nor seeing his works, this hour and a half movie gave me a basic, yet detailed, understanding of Ai Weiwei’s political views. Specifically, the movie exposed his criticisms of the Chinese government and its reactions to natural disasters such as the Sichuan earthquake and to Ai Weiwei’s activism and dissidence.
Klayman was successful in educating the viewer on the current events and politics of China through news footage clips and interviews. You don’t need to be an expert on China in order to understand the film and take away the messages Ai Weiwei is attempting to get across. One the most powerful works shown in the film, titled “Remembering”, is constructed with 9000 children’s backpacks, each one representing a schoolchild whose life was lost in the Sichuan earthquake. Made up of bright colors, the installation spells out the quote from a mother of a child killed in the earthquake “She lived happily for seven years in this world” in Chinese characters. The motivation behind such a heart wrenching art piece is the failure of the Chinese government to investigate the deaths of the schoolchildren. Ai, as well as many others, believe the deaths were a result of poorly built “tofu” government school buildings, and that the government is not taking responsibility for their actions.
The documentary doesn’t portray Ai Weiwei as a glorified hero, which I appreciate because it makes it feel more genuine and unbiased. Rather, it depicts him for who he is by simply interviewing him and filming parts of his daily life. Yes, he is a fairly well known artist, but he is also a member of the Chinese community, not immune to the wrongdoings of the government such as suppressing free speech and committing possible human rights violations. The artworks he creates are not meant to be pieces of decor in a wealthy socialite’s dining room, but instead to ignite a flame in those who care about human rights and who believe in Ai Weiwei’s cause. He does not wish to be praised or worshipped. Ai simply cares about his people and wants to create art that pushes back against an oppressive government and sends a message that he is not afraid.
Another aspect of this documentary that I thought was both interesting and effective, was the director’s decision to include popups of Ai Weiwei’s Twitter account, showing a tweet being typed out. In the age of internet and social media, I found this to be very effective in displaying the importance Twitter has in Ai’s life and activism. These days, almost everyone is on Twitter and for many, myself included, it acts as a source for news and spread of events, ideas, and opinions. I also found it to be visually interesting, even bordering on pleasing, because of spending so much time on Twitter. It is something familiar and recognizable that someone with no knowledge of art or art history can see and relate to. I also believe it was a good choice to include because so much of the information about Ai Weiwei comes directly from him, from his Twitter account. He shares so much of his life on Twitter, for political purposes, which is shown and discussed in the film. One instance of this is his head injury. From his CT scans to his surgery to encountering one of the officers that was there the night he was injured—he shares it all on Twitter. In one scene, after encountering the officer, he is even filmed telling one of his assistants/colleagues/friends to make sure they tweet everything that happened and to continue tweeting so that people are able to see it.
Overall, I believe Alison Klayman directed an awesome documentary, and depicted its subject Ai Weiwei in a refreshing light as the unapologetic artist and activist that he is. I believe his ideas and opinions can resonate with a lot of people, and through creating a documentary like Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry, Klayman helps him to spread his message and allow it to reach new people and new audiences around the world.
