11 Flowers (2013)
Average Rating: 7.2/10
Reviews Counted: 12
Fresh: 11 | Rotten: 1
No consensus yet.
Average Rating: 6.3/10
Critic Reviews: 7
Fresh: 6 | Rotten: 1
No consensus yet.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.6/5
User Ratings: 342
Movie Info
One of China's foremost Sixth Generation directors, Wang Xiaoshuai (Beijing Bicycle, Shanghai Dreams) tells a striking, autobiographical coming-of-age tale set in the final days of China's Cultural Revolution. Eleven-year-old Wang Han lives with his family in a remote village in Guizhou province. When Wang is selected to lead his school through their daily gymnastic regiment, his teacher recommends that he wear a clean, new shirt in honor of this important position - a request that forces his
Cast
-
Liu Wenquing
Wang Han -
Wang Jinchun
Father -
Yen Ni
Mother -
Zhang Kexuan
Louse -
Zhong Guo Liuxing
Mouse -
Lou Yihao
Wei Jun -
Mo Shiyi
Jue Hong -
Wang Ziyi
The Murderer -
Qiao Renliang
Brother of Wei Jun -
Yu Yue
School Teacher -
Zhao Shiqi
Sister of Wang Han -
Cao Shiping
Father of Jue Hong -
Cao Gang
Policeman -
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All Critics (12) | Top Critics (7) | Fresh (11) | Rotten (1)
More sensitive than disaffected, too gentle to resonate more than mildly.
Top CriticThe movie lingers in the mind, largely because director Wang Xiaoshuai's theme is poignant and classic: The more a child perceives of what the adults around him are doing, the more childhood slips away.
Poised on the brink of sexual awareness and the waning of the Cultural Revolution, an 11-year-old boy struggles to interpret the signals from his changing body and an increasingly confusing world.
Wang Xiaoshuai's gently engrossing coming-of-age tale isn't strikingly unique, but it does possess the heartfelt confidence that comes from autobiographical influence - and natural talent.
Mildly resonant, if not revelatory.
An absorbing coming-of-age drama set during the waning stage of China's Cultural Revolution, 11 Flowers takes its place among Wang Xiaoshuai's finest films.
A richly directed and historically credible film that -- with its sense of time and place -- ends up functioning as fascinating and poignant temporal travelogue.
This brilliant coming-of-age story should demonstrate that Americans should be hacking Chinese computers to steal intellectual property and not the other way around--especially Hollywood.
Graceful, tender and poignant with a very believable, organic character arc. It's more than your average coming-of-age story.
A compelling Chinese coming-of-age drama about a young boy's initiation into the adult world of violence and mystery.
Because of its choice in subjectivity, and despite the film's historical context, 11 Flowers firmly elevates the experience of the personal over the political.
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Movie: ID: 771253546 Title: 11 Flowers Release Date: 2013-02-22 00:00:00.0 MPAA: 2 Status: 1
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Foreign Titles
- 11 Flowers (Wo 11) (DE)
- 11 Flowers (Wo 11) (CA)
As endearing as "11 Flowers" can be with an ending that is definitely a punch to the gut, I was wondering when watching this if I was actually watching a movie about a shirt. To be honest, I have seen movies that have succeeded on less but set as this is at the tail end of the Cultural Revolution, it does need more in its rambling narrative, as otherwise it just feels like these momentous events happened to everybody else. So while the most important events happen offscreen, including stranding an intriguing mystery, telling the story exclusively from Han's point of view does work really well in a couple of places where it takes a couple of seconds to ascertain what exactly is happening.