Xiao hua

The literal translation of the title of this film is Little Flower.

Unlike the ordinary political propaganda of the Cultural Revolution era, this movie is a pioneer in liberalization by describing the simply personal relationships of a girl fall in love with the wounded soldier she and her mom took care. The elimination of the political ideological lecturing such as girl wakening up and rise to the cause of revolution that was typical in the movies of that era put this film ahead of other similar Chinese films.

This is a surprisingly charming film from Zhang Zheng (although IMDb credits Tsen Chang) and the Beijing Film Studio. Xiao Hua was one of the earliest post-Mao films (1980) and was part of the great renaissance of the modern Chinese cinema. While production values are often very low-budget, the cast and the story rise above the obvious limitations of a tight schedule and little money. This is a tale of babies taken from their parents during the tumultuous time of the Chinese civil war. Xiao Hua (Joan Chen) and He Cuigu (Liu Xiaoqing) are two young women who have grown up to find that they have much in common. The camaraderie and the courage of these two are really the film's strength and the sympathetic treatment given to the ordinary soldiers in this historic struggle transcends the usual propagandistic outlook that was still symptomatic of some of this era's cinema product. Chen and Liu are very beguiling and set the scene for a very human and touching tale.

This story did not appeal to me. I even feel that this story does not clearly explain the historical background. It is a bit unfair to people who do not understand China's 1940-1950s history. The exaggerated tendentious expressions in the film are biased.

The advantage of this film is the beautiful theme song and the three leading actors who are full of youth, the collagen on their face leaves lovely memories. Their performances worked very hard, which laid the foundation for their ability to perform well in the future.

The composer Wang Ming's name "Ming" means drunk. He is really a talented artist who can transform ordinary materials into fascinating works. The two theme songs in this movie made me unforgettable. After listening to it, I felt like drinking traditional Chinese rice wine.