Qiu Ju da guan si (1992)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

Yimou Zhang

Writers:

Yuan Bin Chen (writer of the the novella on which the film is based, "The Wan Family's Lawsuit")
Heng Liu (writer)

Release Date:

16 April 1993 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Plot:

A pregnant peasant woman seeks redress from the Chinese bureaucracy after the village chief kicks her husband in the groin in this comedy of justice...

Plot Keywords:

Bureaucracy | Rural Area | Pregnant Woman | Forgiveness | Determination

Awards:

12 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Li Gong	...	Qiu Ju
Peiqi Liu	...	Wan Qinglai, chili farmer
Liuchun Yang	...	Meizi, Qinglai's sister
Kesheng Lei	...	Wang Shantang, village chief
Zhijun Ge	...	Officer Li
Wanqing Zhu
Luowen Cui
Huiqin Yang
Jianfa Wang
Zi Lin
Jun Ye

Also Known As:

Qiu Ju Goes to Court
The Story of Qiu Ju

Runtime:

Spain:100 min | UK:100 min | USA:101 min (video version)

Country:

China | Hong Kong

Language:

Mandarin

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:L | Singapore:PG | Australia:PG | Argentina:13 | Chile:14 | Peru:14 | Spain:T | Sweden:Btl | USA:PG

Company:

Sil-Metropole Organisation

Quotes:

Lawyer Wu: [subtitles] Qiu Ju, in civil and administrative lawsuits, the defendants aren't necessarily bad people.
Qiu Ju: Do good people sue each other?
Lawyer Wu: Of course!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Yi ge dou bu neng shao (1999)

Good, but far from my favorite Zhang Yimou (or Gong Li) film

Probably my least favorite Zhang Yimou film. Oh, it's not bad. It's pretty good, to tell the truth. But it's the kind of film where you get the point right away and you have to spend 100 minutes watching the filmmaker stumble toward the foregone conclusion. Gong Li plays the title character, a hugely pregnant woman. Her husband just got kicked in the nuts by their farming community's chief, and Qiu Ju wants an apology. Unfortunately, none of the officials she takes the case to can actually force the guy to apologize. They can make him dole out monetary compensation, but that's not good enough for Qiu Ju. Every time she doesn't get the results she wants, she attempts to go to a higher level of authority. It's an amusing situation, but the film kind of plods along slowly. I won't demand Zhang Yimou stick to his wonderful visual talents, but it is disappointing how mundane this film looks and feels. The worst crime perhaps is that Gong Li isn't given much acting to do. I love the final look on her face when the film ends, but I think pretty much anyone could have played Qiu Ju. I know, it sounds like I hated it, but I didn't. I just wasn't overly impressed with it, despite its obvious qualities.