Xiao zi xian sun ci hou zhe (1993)

Directors:

Peisi Chen
Jianfeng Zeng

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

The issue of possible funeral reform by the Chinese government convinces an elderly woman to have her funeral ahead of time while she is still alive. |

Cast

Peisi Chen	...	Chen Erxiao
Jiali Ding	...	Erxiao's Sister
Lina Li	...	Erxiao's Wife
Dahong Ni	...	Husband of Erxiao's Sister
Zongwan Wei	...	Old Uncle
Lirong Zhao	...	Erxiao's Mother

Country:

China

Language:

Mandarin

Color:

Color

Company:

Youth Film Studio

Movie Connections:

Followed by Dim Sum Funeral (2008)

Masterpiece on cultural introspection, as well as criticism

This movie is an masterpiece of criticism on the not-so-favorite part of the Chinese culture, namely, the rigid traditional Confucian teaching of extravagant funeral services and earth burial.

According to the rigid traditional Confucian teaching, if the children did not spend big bucks to have very extravagant funeral for their dead parents, then the children do not appear to have any filial piety, and thus are not good children. Such practice put extremely heavy financial burden on the family and for many instance, the grandchildren's education was sacrificed because the tuition money for the grandchildren are used for the grand parents' funeral.

This movie does an excellent job in criticize this not-so-favorite parts of the traditional culture and should be re-released over and over again in China.