Kan shang qu hen mei

I just watched this film on UK TV. I wasn't sure what to make of it at first but it did capture my attention - not least because I'm not familiar with the setting in a Mao generation kindergarten boarding school. I've no idea if any of the details are factual but it reminded me of a rather Dickensian idea of bringing up children - though kinder and more humane.

This is a "foreign film" and therefore there are no car chases, no murders and no serial killers. It's about real human beings - infants in this case. If anyone is upset about seeing little kids bottoms it's because you have had your mind poisoned by Anglo-Saxon attitudes and obsession with pedophiles. Obviously you must never have been around infants - toilet training is a big part of the day! Infants are basically sweet and innocent and these kids are mostly seen in that way. The approach in this film is affectionate and realistic - kids also have their evil little ways! I think the core message is that there is not much difference between the children's Kindergarten school routines and the adult society in Mao's China. The attitudes of the children will harden in the controlled society that exists outside when the games become real. The teachers, the educators will be replaced by other kinds of educators and wrong behaviour will be punished by re-education.When you watch the last 5 minutes you will see why I came to that conclusion (could be wrong!). Natural instincts become perverted by too much control. People are so regimented that they even have to poo and pee at he same time in a line in the same place!Something like that.

You have a delightful journey getting to that point. As stated elsewhere the children's performances are completely believable. Of course, it is fiction and some dramatic license is taken in regard to the freedom of movement the little boy protagonist has.

Admittedly fairly intriguing story that is blatantly an allegory for something. Presumably oppression in some country. But which one...

My enduring memory of this movie is bodily functions. A lot of lavatorial stuff and some prepubescent nudity. I'm weirded out by the teachers that take even discrete flatulence very personally.

I'm not convinced that this had anything to say beyond that oppression is exists and that its bad but I still respect how this movie waves the flag for vulgarity and raises a juvenile middle finger the authority figures that think they're so different to those they're oppressing.

It's whimsical good fun that's on the right side at least even if it falls short of being the profound statement at least one of the producers must have thought it was.

Good child actors and a sweet sense of color and composition.

I've watched this film a couple of times and when you think about it, it would be very hard to make such a film and I congratulate the film makers for this effort. But to give it 1 star because it contains "gratuitous child nudity"? is sick. I am referring to a review further up here who talks about child nudity and sick people who "enjoy" that sort of thing.. You know, since you're pointing all these things out maybe you are one of those people, in denial.. One of those that also have issues with women breast-feeding in public.. I didn't even notice "child nudity".. What i saw is a film about little human beings in a boarding school. It was filmed through the eyes of a little child where everything is natural, including nakedness and bodily functions. I was like that back in Eastern Europe, slightly older, but in a similar situation and it kind of brings back some funny memories. It is this kind of righteous moralistic polemic that stirs me right up.. It is you who is troubled by this "child nudity" so stop projecting your perversity on others PLEASE! This is a great 'little' film.

If Yuan Zhang's "Little Red Flowers" isn't quite in the same class as Nicolas Philibert's masterpiece "Etre et avoir" it is still one of the best films ever made about small children in a school environment but whereas the Philibert film was a documentary this is fiction and at times the performances or 'non-performances' Zhang draws from the children are nothing short of miraculous. The setting is a boarding kindergarten in post-Revolutionary China and the central character is Fang Qiangqiang, a disruptive four year old desperate to fit in.

There's no real plot to speak of and Zhang films it as if it were a documentary with perhaps more of an emphasis on the children's toiletry habits than some people might like. Although the film is perfectly innocent and full of charm, repetitive shots of our little hero and his friends in the altogether could prove problematic to Western audiences. (The Chinese, or is it just Zhang, seem obsessed with peeing, pooping and farting). Look beyond that, however, and this is a lovely account of one little boy's need for acceptance. The title refers to the little red flowers the children are rewarded for good behavior.

This is the story of a young boy making a little revolt of his own against his teachers. The plot (if you can call it that) unfolds slowly as we get to follow the kids in their day to day life at the school. The interaction between the kids is great and feels very authentic. Another thing worth mentioning is the photo and the way the camera is always placed in the kids point of view, so the audience always see the adults from below. On the minus side is that many scenes are very predictable and the lack of an actual plot makes it a bit too slow at times. But it's never boring and the heart-warming interaction between the kids as they go their own way makes this a film well worth seeing.