Lin Zi Movies
- 1995
A young punk escapes to a remote village in mainland China and discovers his roots in this Hong Kong drama. Fai, a young gangster, thinks he killed a Hong Kong cop. He escapes to Guangzhou until the situation blows over. The foolish boy immediately wastes the money his boss gave him. Now he is penniless and at the mercy of the mainland gangs. He is wounded in a scuffle. Again he escapes, this time into an isolated village in the Shaanbei province of northern China. He is cared for by a tough old soldier and his granddaughter Xiuxiu. Rural life does not come easily to Fai. While he is there he accidently burns up the village maize field and subsequently causes the death of prize bull. Soon he begins to adjust. He finds himself adopting rural values and enjoying the simple love of Xiuxiu. Finally he knows he must return to Hong Kong and allow justice to be served. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
With The Story of Qiu Ju, internationally acclaimed Chinese director Zhang Yimou shifts his attention from powerful historical dramas (Raise the Red Lantern and Ju Dou) to contemporary life. Gong Li plays the titular heroine, an average woman in a rural village whose life is unexceptional until her husband is physically attacked by the village elder. When the elder refuses to apologize, Qiu Ju decides to seek legal action with the help of a local magistrate. Soon, her quest for simple justice balloons into a series of frustrating battles with a complicated and unproductive bureaucracy. In contrast to the rich, painterly look of his previous films, Zhang adopts an unadorned, realistic style that allows the film's increasingly absurd situations to speak for themselves. Indeed, while the look at government gone wrong has serious underpinnings, the overall tone remains one of understated satire. As might be expected, The Story of Qiu Ju was received with greater appreciation by international critics than in its home country. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
