Li Chun

Wang's story can be representative of so many people in modern day China. It is a tale of traditional values clashing with western art, and all the human ties and emotions that comes with it. These individuals are all somehow tied together and attracted to each other in their own sense of modernism. It is especially interesting to see what emancipates each individual, and how their longing for art evolves over time after being time and time again battered by reality. China is evolving, but there are still so many stories of people like this waiting to be told, there can be so many diamonds in the rough that no one will ever notice.

Setting in a northern county of China in late 80s and early 90s of last century, this movie is about a few ordinary people who dreamed to become artists, who are stubborn enough to fight for their dreams, but eventually give in to the mundane life. This is a somehow identical theme appeared in the director's previous award-winning film "Peacock". Nevertheless, this is a totally different story.

Well written and directed, this is one of the best movies of China of the year. What makes this movie magnificent is that although it's a sad story, the director was able to add in some delicate and somehow absurd humor, pushing you to the edge of breaking your heart.

One thing worth to mention is that the leading actress, Wenli Jiang, is in fact the director's wife, who is very beautiful in reality but appeared to be ugly in the movie.

The satirical tone throughout the film sets up this solid dark comedy. Almost every character in the film is hypercritical. The script is pretty sharp and the character development is quite successful. Wang Cailing is probably one of the most representative characters in modern China, thanks to the career-best performance from Jiang Wenli. This film gives deep depiction both about humanity and society.