The Chinese Kafkaesque Society: The Morning Time Disappeared

Inspired by Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis (1915), The Morning Time Disappeared (2014) by Wang Jianwei describes the outcoming of a young man who woke up one day to find his body has turned into a giant fish. The film is currently presented in the Vancouver Art Gallery within the exhibition of Metamorphosis. Its entire plot is an allusion to Kafka’s novel as the story proceeds in the exact same way but with subtle changes. The Metamorphosis describes the story of a man who’s transformed into an insect without reason and how the people surrounding him adapts to his physical change. The outcomes of both stories are similar nonetheless, with the death of the protagonist bringing peace back to the family.

Wang Jianwei is a Chinese contemporary artist who establishes art via performance, installation and new media. In his adaptation, Wang includes stops time to create another dimension, separating the main character from the cast. This symbolizes as an impenetrable boundary between normal and the abnormal. Only in those imaginary fields is the protagonist shown as a normal human. Which is ironic because his mind still remains human but he is never seen in the same way with a changed physical form. The protagonist is often shown hidden under the shadows with only his eyes lit up or facing the direction of light. He is literally swept under the rug by the family he worked hard to support.

Overall, The Morning Time Disappeared reaches out to many Chinese people and their understandings of society. He connects the current flow within China, how young people from all over China gather in Beijing to find jobs with the hopes of supporting their entire family, with the settings in The Metamorphosis. With this film, Wang openly criticizes the Kafkaesque society of modern China. It is an eye-opening film and a message to all who strives without asking themselves, 

“what for?”