Watch 'Art College' Online Streaming (Full Movie)

Art College

2023, Movie, 2h 6min

Strikingly detailed, hand-drawn animation vividly evokes the idle, idealistic world of slacker youth in the precious days before adult responsibility in Liu Jian’s charmingly wistful slice-of-life gem. In 1990s China, a motley gang of art students fill their days with inchoate musings about aesthetics, philosophy, and the promised “good” life after graduation. Caught between tradition and modernity as they take their first steps into adulthood, they now have to choose who they want to become. Xiaojun epitomizes the quintessential romantic, fashioning himself after grunge idol Kurt Cobain, while his partner in crime, Rabbit, keeps the group’s aspirations grounded with his unfiltered wit. Featuring voice work from renowned directors Bi Gan and Jia Zhangke, ART COLLEGE 1994 serves as a captivating lens through which we glimpse the eternal promise and confusion of youth and the contradictions of a country anticipating the turn of the globalized millennium.

Country: China

Director:

Cast:

Reviews

Critic Ryan Coleman

rated

The film vividly captures the tremble of youth on the cusp of adulthood, while at the same time painting at the fringes a specific portrait of China on the cusp of its major transformation to a market-led economy.

Read full review at Slant Magazine

Critic Simon Abrams

rated

...an animated Chinese college dorm rom-com about young people and their greatest loves, themselves.

Read full review at Roger Ebert

Frequently asked questions

What is Art College about? Toggle content

In the midst of China's cultural awakening, a group of art students navigate the challenges of growing up. As they balance love, friendship, and ambition, they must decide who they want to become in a rapidly changing world. Through their journeys, they discover the complexities of tradition and modernity, and the true meaning of art and self-expression.

Where can I stream Art College? Toggle content

You can stream Art College on: The Criterion Channel

What movies are similar to Art College? Toggle content

Some movies that have similar genres and were produced around the same time as Art College include The Wild Robot, Inside Out 2, Memoir of a Snail, Isle of Dogs, Elemental, Nimona.