Review of The Story of Qiu Ju (1992) by Gerry O — 21 Apr 2009
This slow drama/comedy attacks the slow bureaucracy and stupidity existing in China under Communism.
Yet there is so much more to this extraordinary film. Li Gong puts in an extraordinary performance as the determined wife, searching for an apology from the political leader who has wronged her husband.
Despite an arbitration settlement of money whcih she rejects because she only wishes for an apology, there follows a long journey through the political and economic system which ends with unintended consequences.
To top it all, she is pregnant, but her dogged persistence is what the viewer is focussed upon.
Throughout the film the backdrop is the changing China. On the one hand you have the geography, mountainous regions indicating permanence and unchanging nature, on the other the city where small sacle capitalism providing goods and services is already entrenched.
There is much in this that can make you laugh or cry, much to frustrate and much to give pleasure.
A movie that can be watched, again, and again.
This review of The Story of Qiu Ju (1992) was written by Gerry O on 21 Apr 2009.
The Story of Qiu Ju has generally received very positive reviews.
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