Article 20

The topic here is quite an interesting one. A CCTV camera captures a man being attacked and stabbed multiple times. The police apprehend the perpetrator, but as the hastily partnered prosecutors - "Han Ming" (Jiayin Lei) and "Liu Lingling" (Ye Gao) start to investigate, they discover that the victim was actually quite an odious creature who probably deserved his fate - despite the vocal protestations of his family. Meantime, the former is also having some family drama after is son "Yuchen" (Liu Yaowen) intervenes in a school bullying incident and finds himself faced with making an humiliating apology or a court-ordered detention. Poor old "Han" is now under mounting pressure from his bosses, his partner and from his rather strong-willed wife "Li Maojuan" (Li Ma). Juggling plates isn't really his forte, and for most of the drama we vacillate between the increasingly hysterical and bickering marital relationship that starts off quite funny but ends up quite grating, and a police investigation that ultimately has a political point to make about the voracity of Chinese justice to the audience. It does have it's moments, and at times I did feel a bit sorry for "Han" as his problems accumulate with no obvious solution for a man who just wants to get to his retirement in one piece. Otherwise, though, it's all a bit messy. The narrative doesn't really flow and it becomes just a but too much of a soap for me as it begins to run out of steam. It is watchable, and at times does raise a smile - but the stories are all just a bit too thin.

From director Zhang Yimou, director of Hero, Shadow, and Full River Red, Article 20 is a courtroom drama uniquely packaged as a Chinese New Year comedy, cleverly broaching the sensitive topic of justifiable defense.

Han Ming, a newly assigned public prosecutor, works on a controversial case involving a husband stabbing his loan shark after raping his wife. Is it murder or a justifiable defense?

Meanwhile, Han Ming's son Han Yu Ming gets into a fight in school stopping a bullying incident. The injured bully is the son of the school guidance counselor Mr Zhang, who has reported the crime to the police.

As a criminal record threatens Yu Ming's chances of getting into a good university, Han Ming and his wife Li Maojuan rush to mediate the situation and plead for Mr Zhang to retract the police report...

Based on real-life defense cases in China, Li Meng and Wang Tianyi's script is sharp and thought-provoking. It brilliantly uses comedy to discuss the heavy uncomfortable topic of the often-neglected self-defense clause.

Zhang Yimou shoots the script as written, preserving its tight structure and rhythm, leaving his signature color palette aside. As seen previously in Full River Red, Zhang is surprisingly a talented comedy director-and in a witty fashion! There's a self-referential gag that refers to Zhang Yimou's previous film Full River Red that's wickedly funny. I prefer Zhang's new artistic direction making comedies over his wuxia or historical epic. This is among Zhang Yimou's best.

The hyper-verbal comedy between Lei Jiayin and Ma Li as the bickering husband and wife is hilarious. This becomes the emotional center, as a lightened comedic take on a family caught in a legal snag and arguing about what to do. Whenever the film switches gears and gets serious, it's gripping.

How do we judge what is right in a given situation? Do we judge from what's written in law or intuition? Can something be lawful if it's not in the law book? How do you judge motivation when a person's intentions change every second?

The current wave of Chinese crime films is a fascinating trend. They have more narrative freedom now, allowing for all sorts of crime subgenres and all conclude with a public message discouraging said crime. The restrictions have become its version of the early Hollywood Hays Code. Article 20 has beat the system, somehow.

Article 20's greatest achievement is how it packages itself as a laugh-out-loud comedy, cleverly slips past government restrictions inoffensively to acknowledge and ease the public about these misjudged self-defense cases in the past. From the end title cards, the government is on board as well.

I haven't seen a Chinese film quite like this. It's something to behold.

IT FINALLY RELEASED!!! I've been anticipating this movie for a very long time. This movie is a need-to-watch. All the actors were spectacular in their performance and I enjoyed the plot. The movie reviews humanity's laws and educates about self defense. The movie's main character, Mr. Han has a very high EQ, his wife is a very reasonable protector, and their son is a mix of the two of them--literally perfect. I wish there were more scenes of the protagonist's family though, I was very invested in the story there. The movie was amazingly directed. The director, Zhang Yi Mo is very famous in China, and all his products are always a big hit, including this movie.

Different countries have different cultural traditions, This film bravely chooses a difficult subject but tells the story very well.

There's much we can do to change the world, it's a great attempt.

When you watch this film, maybe can not understand very well, as difference system of country clutrue of Europe and North America or other countries. But the pursuit of fairness and justice is the common pursuit for all human being.

The last part was very wonderful, "The pursuit of fairness and justice requires a price. Do ordinary people need to bear their own destiny, the whole family's the destiny, and even the several generations destiny to bear? "

Express my the creators of this film.

The procurator's determination that Wang Yongqiang was acting in self-defense only meant that he did not have to go to prison, not that he could got benefits or receive compensation from government treasury.

Wang Yongqiang owed a lot of high interest loans. At the same time ,his wife Hao Xiumei committed suicide . Hao Xiumei being rescued by doctors at the hospital, and then she is not in severe condition ,but she still stayed in a single special ward. The movie in this scene is not realistic in poor family.

Han Ming's son storyline is strange. Just look like in order to add one character for someone. School bully storyline is not harmoniously in movie.