Director Tian Zhuangzhuang combines lucidity of vision with a novelistic richness and complexity of narrative. In a story based on the director's own memories, a young boy recounts his family history over two decades, his mother's multiple marriages and the political turmoil of those times.
Banned by the authorities in China, the story traces the devastating effects of Mao Zedong's era, particularly the Cultural Revolution, has on ordinary Chinese lives. It combines a sharp sense of anger at the seemingly arbitrary political upheavals, and sorrowful sympathy for lives that are wasted or ruined.
Banned by the authorities in China, the story traces the devastating effects of Mao Zedong's era, particularly the Cultural Revolution, has on ordinary Chinese lives. It combines a sharp sense of anger at the seemingly arbitrary political upheavals, and sorrowful sympathy for lives that are wasted or ruined.