Yan'ni leaves her joyless home life to study at the university, and her future ispoised to reveal itself, anticipated brightness is forfeited for immediate despairon her very first day away from home?most notably through a chance encounter withMuyu (Jun Wu), a handsome delivery truck driver, who beguiles Yan'ni with a love shehas never known and a hat that looks just like hers. Surely that means they arekindred spirits?But Muyu is full of unwelcome surprises, like a chance-discovered infant
andcleaver-wielding wife. Yan'ni has no idea what intricate plans have been set inmotion.
What might be termed the new 'market economy cinema' in China, is teeming with at least a subconsciously processed observation and awareness of how human relations have been acutely affected by this Western economic incursion.
The filmmaker takes stock with brutal candor of the traumatic turn of events in new market economy China, as the national social support system in place is increasingly dismantled for the sake of foreign greed and profit.
Zhou Xun is one of the most compelling actresses working today and she grabs you right from the start in this film. She plays a young woman whose parents, intellectuals from the previous generation, have abandoned her for the most part, shuffling her off to live in near poverty with her granny and aunt. Then she's
accepted into university, raising her class status momentarily, but falls in love with a truck driver, gets pregnant and her life unravels. There's subtle and deep social commentary embracing this extremely sad tale of family, love, and one woman's struggle to survive in modern China. I was very surprised by the script.
This movie was brilliant ! I had it in my que on Netflix and had bypassed it a few times ... I am usually drawn to foreign films and this was more then I expected ! I definitely have to add this lil gem to my collection of films. If I had to grade this movie it gets an A I LOVE IT AND WILL WATCH IT AGAIN TONIGHT!
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