Drifters (2003)
"Er di" (original title)

The young adult life of Hong Yunsheng, nicknamed Little Brother, is seen as somewhat of a failure by those that know him. A Chinese national, he stowed away on a boat to the United States, ... See full summary »

Director:

Xiaoshuai Wang

Writer:

Xiaoshuai Wang

Stars:

Yihong Duan, Yan Shu, Zhi-Liang Wang

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Yihong Duan	...	Young Brother (as Long Duan)
Yan Shu	...	Little Girl
Zhi-Liang Wang	...	Liang (as Zhiliang Wang)
Yiwei Zhao	...	Big Brother
Yang Tang	...	Sister-in-Law
Peizhu Jin	...	Old Man
Da Ke	...	Son
Yioun Huang	...	Aunt
Jianlun Zheng	...	Village Chief
Juyong Liu	...	Young Man
Youjie Su	...	Monkey
Meijuan Zeng	...	Jan - Monkey's Wife
Tianzeng Huang	...	Ertao
Xuelan Fang	...	Erato's Wife
Yuyong Su	...	Policeman A

Storyline

The young adult life of Hong Yunsheng, nicknamed Little Brother, is seen as somewhat of a failure by those that know him. A Chinese national, he stowed away on a boat to the United States, where he worked as a dishwasher in the restaurant of a family from his hometown back in Fujian province. After two years in the States and after fathering an illegitimate child there named Fusheng, the child's mother Xuhui who is the restaurateur's daughter, he was deported back to China. Since, he has been floundering in life, which has caused a rift between himself and his older brother, who, with his wife, operate a street front diner and can't have children of their own. Little Brother relies on his new girlfriend, a woman he barely knows named Wu Ruifang who is a performer in a touring opera troupe, for emotional support. Despite Little Brother being the local poster boy for not stowing away, his friend named Monkey tried to do the same, but died on the voyage over due to exposure to toxic ...

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Plot Keywords:

chinese | boy | dishwasher | friend | law | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

China Hong Kong

Language:

Mandarin

Release Date:

2 November 2003 (USA)

Also Known As:

Drifters

Company Credits

Production Co:

Purple Light Films, People Workshop

Technical Specs

Runtime:

120 min 120 min

Color:

Color

User Reviews

A real yawn by North American standards

This was one of the least enjoyable films to which I have subjected myself in some years. (I say "subjected" because it took me four tries to get past the first ten minutes, yet I held to my rather masochistic determination to see this movie through to the end.) The plot meanders and backtracks and ultimately goes absolutely nowhere. Although those inclined toward European cinema might find the entire offering moderately satisfying, I believe the average North American will only finish up wondering, "What was THAT all about?" Despite apparently being shot in Taiwan, Drifters is clearly little more than anti-western propaganda in the service of the regime of mainland China.

I give this film a "3" score strictly on the basis of its interesting editing and superb camera-work; however those elements still will not justify your expenditure of time or money on seeing this film unless you have a deep cultural (or political) connection to the setting and circumstances of the story.