By John Corrado
The 2025 Hot Docs Film Festival runs from April 24th to May 4th in Toronto
Ai Weiwei’s Turandot looks at the Chinese artist and activist’s modern re-staging of Puccini’s opera at the Teatro dell’Opera in Rome. The film opens with the quote “everything is art, everything is politics,” before dramatic footage from his bold reimagining of the production.
The artist was brought on to update the opera for modern times, not only presenting it from an Asian perspective to counter the stereotypical “Orientalism,” but also weaving in themes of contemporary issues. This includes incorporating elements like umbrellas, meant to symbolize Hong Kong’s Umbrella Revolution. The artist is working alongside choreographer Chiang Ching, who cast him as an extra in her own production of Turandot almost four decades earlier.
Directed by Maxim Derevianko, the film takes us behind the scenes of the opera, and it serves as an interesting production diary first and foremost. We are shown the challenges of directing a live show, including setbacks faced by the production team during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the work of the costume designers and set designers to bring Ai Weiwei’s vision to life. The other aspect of it is an exploration of Puccini’s Turandot and the time in which it was written, and how elements of it are able to mirror modern times.
Like other documentaries about Ai Weiwei, Derevianko’s film also takes us through some of the artist’s iconic pieces that have led to him being censored by China’s communist government, including his work uncovering the names of victims of the Sichuan Earthquake, as well as his arrest in 2011. In this way, Ai Weiwei’s Turandot is a strong addition to the canon of documentaries about (and by) the artist.
Film Rating: ★★★ (out of 4)
The Joy of Movies 