Niels-2

This documentary is a quiet and almost stillstanding look at life among a group of elderly chineese in a Beijing suburb. Like in the old peoples lifes not much is happening but patience is revarded. You come to learn and feel for these elderly and their relationships. Sometimes you can't help laughing at the way they talk, walk and live. Here is a lot of peptalk about "the young generation" which is quite funny , it's almost like the beautifull Monty Python sketch : "When I was young..." Funny but also tuff to watch at times.

The brilliant actor Ge You is at his best as a simple photographer hired to film a documentary of a famous director (Sutherland). The story is simply crazy but the speed is on and everything is soon out of control for our small chinese hero. At times really funny with a lot of misunderstandings between chinese and american ...behavior as well as language.

I've just seen this film in a local festival here in Copenhagen: Films from the south, and would like to highly recommend it. This film is indeed not a narrow art movie from a foreign hemisphere, just the opposite it is a film with a very broad appeal. As a matter of fact it is much like some of the best American screw-ball films of the 30's and 40's. The roles could as well be played by Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn. The story is so well written, though the theme is old as history. The frame of the story is a song performed by some traditional Chinese musicians, which gives the story its special humor. As fx in "Cat Ballou". As you can understand this is a real peach. Don't miss it...if you ever get the opportunity to see it. It ought to be shown on national tv in prime time. It is a very funny ....and intelligent film.