Things will get better (Shanghai Dreams (DVD))

Member Name: sunmeilan

Product:	Shanghai Dreams (DVD)
Date:	18/10/06 (105 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fascinating insight into Communist China

Disadvantages: Won't appeal to many

I take every opportunity I can to watch films from ‘mainland’ China. I lived there for years and love the chance to have a walk down memory lane and hear the language, so as soon as I saw this film advertised as showing in a cinema near me, I knew I had to go and see it. I didn’t really know what to expect from the film – I had heard nothing about it – but knowing that so few Chinese films get shown in the UK, I was expecting it to be pretty good. I did enjoy it; but I am not sure that it is going to appeal to a wide audience.

The story
During the Cultural Revolution, many families left China’s major cities to live in the countryside and work to spread the word of the Communist Party and to improve the standard of living. After the Cultural Revolution, many of those same families wanted to return to their homes, but found themselves unable to do so. The Wu family is one such family. By the beginning of the 80s, daughter Qing Hong has grown up in the countryside and is settled there, but her father is anxious to return to his hometown of Shanghai along with his wife and son and daughter so that they can have a better life.

Unfortunately, his wishes are not shared by the rest of the family. Qing Hong is close friends with another girl whose family is also originally from Shanghai and is close to a young man who works in the same factory as his father. She doesn’t understand her father’s fear that she will settle in the countryside and live as a peasant, which makes their relationship very difficult. Will the family be torn apart? Or will they be able to find a compromise?

The characters/actors
Qing Hong is played by Gao Yuan Yuan. I think that it is probably very difficult for a western audience unfamiliar with China to understand her role. She undergoes a series of major upsets in her life, including an attempted suicide, yet she hides the emotions and it is very difficult to understand what she is going through. It is important to realise that people were not encouraged to show their feelings at that time and that actually in hiding her feelings, she is giving a good, if not brilliant, performance. There are a number of shots that linger on her expressionless face, which must have been difficult to hold.

Li Bin plays Qing Hong’s closest friend. Brought up by parents much less strict than those of Qing Hong, she is much more vivacious and given to expressing her feelings, something that is frowned upon by many. As such, she has more of an opportunity to show off her acting skills and I think she does a very good job.

Yao Anlian plays Qing Hong’s father. He gives a good performance as an exceptionally strict parent who bullies his daughter into conforming because he is afraid that she will throw her life away otherwise and settle into the countryside. By moving to Shanghai, she will have the opportunity to go to university, earn more money and generally have a better life. He was a little too good in fact; he certainly scared me at times.

Technical bits
Classification: 15

Running time: 123 minutes

Conclusion
There is little that I can criticise about this film, apart from the fact that I cannot see it appealing to a very wide audience. In fact, I can’t see it appealing to anyone outside of those that had similar experiences or have a particular interest in the period. There is a little bit of an introduction to the history, but not enough to explain to a layperson exactly what was going on at the time and how it affected millions of people who were split from their families under the banner of working for the Communist Party. There is little action in the film (despite the fact that ciao has it listed under the action/adventure section) – it is mainly about the relationships between the family members.

The recurring theme throughout the film is modernisation after the Cultural Revolution, symbolised by a pair of red high heeled shoes that Qing Hong’s admirer buys for her. This is the only brightness in what is otherwise a very grey film – the director, Wang Xiaoshuai, deliberately matched the weather and scenery to the dark mood of the film – a shame because the countryside in which the family are supposed to be living is actually very beautiful.

Wang Xiaoshuai apparently made this film in the honour of his parents, who were among the millions of people moved from the cities to the countryside in the 1960s. This is obvious in the way that the film is made; it is clearly of great personal interest to the director. Fair play, but this does mean that those who understand the film are bound to be few and far between.

One bit to look out for, though, if you do watch it, is the scene at a local underground dance, where the young people attending dance to Boney M in the most hilarious way – it has to be seen to be believed. It reminded me very much of times in the early 90s when I went to a ‘disco’, which would involve the boys on one side of the room, the girls on the other and those that did dare to dance had no idea how to move to the music having been banned from moving freely for so long. Fabulous. I howled with laughter, but it also reminded me just how far China has come since then.

Language-wise, the subtitles are not a problem. For those who understand Chinese, the language used is very pure – despite the fact that the family are from Shanghai and ought to speak Shanghainese and they are living in a poor part of Guizhou province where the local accent is strong. However, that is a small flaw in a film that is otherwise very historically accurate.

I did like the film. It was of great personal interest to me and I would love to be able to recommend it to a wider audience – I am always eager to promote China to an often ignorant West. However, I just cannot see that many people would find this film anything other than deathly boring. It is very slow, nothing of any great excitement happens and the ending is nothing to write home about. If you have a particular interest in China, then it is worth seeing for the historical subject matter; if not, stay well clear.

The DVD is not due out until November, although play.com is already taking orders at the price of £14.99. The film is currently showing in selected cinemas in London.

Summary: Worth watching if you have an interest in China