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| TAKING FATHER HOME
(BEI YAZI DE NANHAI)
(director/writer: Ying Liang; screenwriter: Peng Shan;
cinematographers: Ying Liang/Li Hongshen
; editor: Ying Liang; music: Zhang Xiao;
cast: Xu Yun (Xu Yun), Liu Xiaopei (Policeman
Liu), Wang Jie (Scar), Song Cijun (Xu Er), Chen Xikun
(Mama), Liu Ying (Girlfriend); Runtime: 100; MPAA
Rating: NR; producer: Peng Shan; Typecast Releasing;
2006-China-in Sichuan Mandarin with English subtitles) "Paints an evocative picture of modern China." Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz The debut feature of the 28-year-old Chinese director Ying Liang ("When Night Falls"/"The Other Half") paints an evocative picture of modern China through its portrait of the city of Zigong. The low-budget film was filmed with the directors friends and relatives, who received no pay, and with a borrowed camera. Ying Liang co-wrote the screenplay with his girlfriend Peng Shan. Angry
hayseed, country boy, the 17-year-old
Xu Yun (Xu Yun), informs his displeased
mother (Chen Xikun) that he will
take a bus to go alone and without money to the big
city of Zigong in search of his father, Xu
Er (Song Cijun),
who abandoned his wife and children six years ago to
work at a construction site but has nevertheless
regularly sent mom money for child support. Xu
Yun's family is threatened with relocation because
their small village in Sichuan
Province was declared an industrial zone
because of a government river-dam project. On
the bus, Xu Yun has no money but brings two
geese he carries in a basket on his back and a
small knife. There the green youngster
befriends a hardened criminal named Scar (Wang
Jie ), who teaches him how to eat
watermelon and lays some money on him before
deserting him. Xu Yun later meets
a divorced pragmatic sergeant cop (
Liu Xiaopei), who treats
him in a fatherly way. Refusing to
return home without his father the
stubborn Xu Yun, with the
policeman's help, eventually
tracks down his errant dad and
discovers he's bankrupt, has
another woman and a little
girl, and has no plans to
return home. It leads to an
emotional conclusion when the
son confronts his dad. The
film shows the Communist
government in the midst of
political change, that it
relocates multitudes for the
common good of building new
projects, how there's random
violence in society, that many
of the youth are disrespectful
of the old ways, and there's
constant propaganda messages
and police bulletins urging
the public to help capture
criminals. REVIEWED ON 9/10/2012 GRADE: B+ Dennis Schwartz: "Ozus' World Movie Reviews" © ALL RIGHTS RESERVED DENNIS SCHWARTZ |