Liu san jie

While definitely dated, this movie has much to offer. Scenery, music and a decent plot. While the communist leanings are clear here, look beyond that for the beauty inherent in the story. (Perhaps something like William Hurt's character does with Kiss of the Spider Woman). Anyway this movie is known in China and Zhang Yimoh has created an outdoor theatrical presentation (Impressions of Liu San Jie) very loosely based on the story which is presented near Guilin, China and the current theatrical show is perhaps better known than the original today.

I am from Liuzhou,China,and Liuzhou people always boasts that Liu San Jie was a local girl of Liuzhou.Legend has it that she became goddess in Liuzhou after being persecuted by landlords who were jealous of her singing and ,more importantly,afraid of her rebellious character.She was drowned into the pond of Yu Feng Park in Liuzhou but the fish in the pond helped her to fly to the heaven since those fish were fond of her singing,too. I can't remember how many times I have listened to her songs and how often I watched the DVD/VCD of Liu San Jie.I simply love the movie,the actresses in the movie and people who made the movie.I sing the songs myself now and then . I have shared with my friends worldwide the songs in the movie and one friend said she listened to the song 20 times a night...... I would show you around in the Park where you can see the temple of Liu San Jie one day you visit Liuzhou. Last but not least,many people in China knew Liu San Jie before they knew about Guangxi.

The reason why the title named: Third Sister Liu is that the girl is from the family of Liu, and she is the third child of the family.

This movie is unique in that it is one of the very few Chinese made movie that is based on the legend of ethnic minority, and in this case, the Zhuang minority in southern and southwestern part of China.

The second reason why this movie is unique is that it is one of the few musicals in Chinese movie industry and musicals are not common in China.

If you are familiar with 'Fuenteovejuna' by the Spanish playwright Lope de Vega, then the plot will be familiar to you - local village rises up against the predatory landlord (or governor). That was written in the early 1600s.

There is some notable singing in this, but like a lot of Chinese movies of its time, it can take western ears a while to get accustomed to what sounds like cats fighting.

The karstic scenery of Guilin, Yangshuo etc. is well photographed. Unfortunately a lot today is not visible beneath the clouds of soot and other pollution which besmirch so much of China.

It is sympathetically played by a well-cast group.

The spectacle now playing in Yangshuo "Impression of Liu Sanjie" bears little (if any) of relevance to this work.

Liu San Jie is a rare example of a movie that mixes ideology with just plain fun. The Communist ideals present (idealistic, pure poor vs. predatory rich) are well integrated into the story and don't make the film turgid or boring, like a lot Chinese, Russian, etc. films with ideological content. Liu San Jie is a charming, sassy heroine, the film is set amongst the beautiful karst formations and clear waters of Guangxi Province, and the plot is simple enough to understand even if you can't understand Chinese. Plus everybody in China knows the songs -- once you see the film you'll be surprised how often they pop up in other films or on TV. It's now available on DVD, in China anyway, which will hopefully give people a chance to see a nice print of the film, with (I hope) multi-language subtitle options.