Yang guang can lan de ri zi

Since the first time I saw "Yangguang Canlan de Rizi" ("In the Heat of the Sun", actually if translated directly from the Chinese name, it would be "Bright Sunny Days"), it became one of my all time favorites. Depicted in a yellowish color, the movie is full of mood of reminiscence. Though I was born right after the "Cultural Revolution"(1966-1976), I heard a lot about it from the older people. Days of those years were humdrum at large but might be wonderful for youngsters. Schools were loose or even dismissed, students worried nothing except their adolescent affairs. Just as eagletc, another reviewer on this board, described: "there wasn't so much on concern in our mind, hence fighting against the children from other section in the military region became the only extracurriculum activity".

What's great of this movie is that it exhibits to us so vividly the growth experience of one generation in a somewhat wild and beautiful way. It may be very touching for those who are acquainted with that period of Chinese history but may confuse and bore those who are not. Jiang Wen is not only a talented actor but also a genius director. There's another movie from him I also love, "guizi lai le". I would like to mention Wang shuo, the writer of the original novel "Dongwu Xiongmeng (Animals Are Savage)", who is the most creative contemporary novelist in China.

I'm very down to earth about Chinese films. There's a few good ones like Suzhou River and Zhang Yimou's 'Huozhe' (Life). The rest I find to be overly catered for Western tastes, i.e. plenty of peasants and moralising tales of how bad Communism was for the tiny minority of privileged intellectuals.

This film is definitely an exception. It is about a boy growing up in the Cultural Revolution, but shows the era with a kind of nostalgia that perhaps may be somewhat alien to the Western psyche. If you really want to learn something about how China experienced 'the Sixties,' then watch this if you can get a hold of it.

On the down side, this film appears to be almost completely unavailable. If anyone knows of a DVD or video release anywhere, it would be much appreciated.

This film is an excellent depiction of how people construct narratives of their own past. They take what they like, exaggerate those aspects, try to fit it into a coherent story. They try to construct stories that depict them as who they want to be. People may tell these constructed stories to others, but they also try to convince themselves of the veracity of their constructed stories. This movie explores these ideas in a very powerful way, through the viewpoint of a boy growing up. I found it especially meaningful because I can personally relate to it. I'm not going to spoil the best scenes for you by telling you the way in which the ideas are presented.

Before watching In the heart of the sun, I have not seen Jiang Wen's film less. Today I want to use this movie to talk about the influence that Jiang Wen has brought to me. This movie is not too late to watch, it is more like keeping a precious to watch. After all, the previous works that I seen of Director Jiang gave me too much shock, so his " Virgin works" must be kept for the final to watch. I have tried to write some film reviews of his works before, but most of them have been holding back for a long time. I don't know how write these film reviews. I only have those key words, exaggerated performances, rich rhythmic images, and black humor? For future works, these are indeed all. But Virgo is different. This is the first work of fresh blood entering the film industry. Talent and spirit are the most abundant time, and ignorant works must be very interesting.

The film is called In heart of the sun, but I think it should be called Jiang Wen's heart of the sun. The background of the story is Beijing during the Cultural Revolution. It is the time when Jiang Wen lived where he grew. The story takes place in the place where he grew up, and the actors are more like his childhood. People in memory. There are a few buddies who are crazy every day, the girls who like, and the "fools" who are lingering in my memory. In the context of the times, the Cultural Revolution was not an era that was shining in the sun, but aside from the background, we returned to the little people. In that era when there were no mobile phones and naive ideas, these children who grew up in the compound brought the audience to a perfect experience from the films. A different experience. In this group of small groups, they all live happily and freely, as if they are isolated from the outside world. They do what they like, have their own dreams, have girls they like, and have countless troubles. At first glance, it seems to be no different from the children nowadays, isn't it just a bunch of kids running wild. Yes, this group of children presents the last sunshine under the political wall for a generation. Sometimes I am quite envious of children of this age, carefree, without mobile phones or computers, without any external fragmented information interference, and it can be regarded as a pure world. Jiang Wen photographed a era when he was a child, and photographed the best aspect that audiovisual language can present to the audience. His audiovisual creative talents made me fascinated by the rhythmic sense of his movies, not only the shock brought by the rhythm of the music, but also the feeling of matching the music and the picture.

In any case, from the memory in the bones of a generation of people in the siege to the memory being processed into art products, his films always bring surprises and inspiration to me.

I have many classemates that come from Jun Qv Da Yuan(military region), who act exactly as those in the film. In those days(since 1972), there wasnt so much on concern in our mind, hence fighting against the children from other section in the military region became the only extracurriculum activity. Here Id like to express my admire for Jiang Wen, who shot this movie successfully from the first point of view. Thanks!