Final Rating: 4/5
Big Brother is watching…With every passing day, as our technology advances, this insight seems more and more prescient. So much so, that the extent to which we are surveyed is often lost on us. Total Trust, directed by Jialing Zhang, follows the lives of two human rights lawyers in China as well as a journalist, and their families as they face the struggles of its oppressive ‘party’ system. The Orwellian nature of its surveillance society is apparent from the onset. What seems like a notion for sci-fi films or literature is ominously brought to life. Splicing in a number of different shots from various media praising the nature of their society, to propaganda films, and individuals lauding the party, some in song, others performing group chants pledging their loyalty, all of which could all be stock footage from any dystopian film.
The oppression some in the western world imagine we live under is their daily reality. Every move, every interaction, every social media post is monitored and parsed for approval, removed or altered by their decree. As the journalist points out, biometrics of all manner are taken to identify individuals even if their face is covered with a mask. Community Monitors are put in place to watch over millions in individual neighbourhoods, making note of their every move. The fact that one of their video monitoring programs is called Skynet is so on the nose, that even typing it seems like something from a screenplay.
A series of tens of millions of cameras, with tens of millions more to be installed in the following years, are meant to ‘improve’ this society. Lawyers who fight for people’s rights are arrested, tortured and isolated from family and friends with no recourse or contact with the outside world. Police operate with absolute authority, sanctioned by the state, and those blacklisted are subject to their whims. They determine what ‘subversion of the state’ means, because as one of the lawyers featured points out, its legal definition isn’t truly defined.
This is all put into stark contrast if we were to take even a passing glance at the social media posts criticizing politicians, on both sides of the aisle, we see daily, or those facing charges stemming from the Freedom Convoy here in Canada or January 6th insurrection in the United States. The notion of what would happen to these individuals in this environment is a far cry from what we see here. The 709 Crackdown that occurred in 2015 and highlighted in the film, targeted those trying to fight for civil rights. Many were jailed or held for years without a trial as their cases dragged on, coerced into guilty pleas or signing confessions using individually targeted means. Their family’s subject to government crackdowns and socially they essentially become pariahs. When, or if, released, their ability to work was limited to sanctioned approval.
One interesting take away is that there’s a sort of eerie freedom and convenience that comes from being constrained. Without having to worry about decision making, there is a sort of ease of life. Big Data is used to calculate a social credit score which impacts every aspect of your life. The schools your children can attend, social standing, travel, business opportunities etc. Especially when it’s all presented under the guise of improving society, something as simple as a visit from a neighbour, or a seemingly innocent question, can all be more to consider. It illuminates how the subjects cope with these matters, some turn to faith, others delving more and more into their cause. The human toll and family strain that comes along with it is also brought to light and a consequence of this system.
As the journalist points out, it’s like the frog in the boiling pot of water: they take away little bits of freedom at a time until you’re subdued into not fighting back. It’s also made evidently clear why many refuse. There seems to be no way to win. Health codes during the pandemic could be used to limit movements as those who spoke out or protested various injustices were blacklisted. Others were arrested covertly and jailed, detained without council.
Ultimately this film serves as a powerful message about the means by which technology and the cooperation of its citizens is being used to oppress those who speak out. The power government has is due in part to the force of the machine, and the complicit nature of its citizens, spurred by the fear it instils, or lack of willingness to see it for what it truly is. What authentically resonates is the human story, as we can’t help but empathise with their struggle. With each letter they send out, every video they film pleading for help, each encounter at which they are turned away, your heart goes out to them as they carry on with their struggle, until there seems no other option but literally screaming into the void…
Thank you to Foundry Communications for the screener.
