Meng ying tong nian (2004)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

Jiang Xiao

Writers:

Qingsong Cheng (writer)
Jiang Ziao (writer)

Release Date:

7 April 2005 (Netherlands)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

For no apparent reason, a mute young woman assaults a youth who delivers water on his bicycle, injuring him and ruining his bike...

Plot Keywords:

Bicycle | Youth | Abusive Father | Wedding | Tragic Family

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Yu Xia	...	Mao Dabing
Haibin Li	...	Pan Daren
Yijing Zhang	...	Ling Ling as a Teenager
Zhongyang Qi	...	Ling Ling as a Young Woman
Zhengjia Wang	...	Mao Xiaobing
Haogi Zhang	...	Bing Bing
Yuquing Xia	...	Xiaobing's Father
Shan Jiang	...	Policewoman
Zhenhua	...	Doctor Niu
Yang Liu	...	Middle-Aged Woman
Jinbao Zhao	...	Teacher
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Xiaotong Guan
Yihong Jiang	...	Jiang Xuehua

Also Known As:

Electric Shadows (International: English title)

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

China

Language:

Mandarin

Color:

Color

Certification:

Singapore:PG | Malaysia:U | South Korea:12 | Netherlands:MG6

Company:

Beijing Dadi Century Limited

Goofs:

Continuity: Lingling was locked inside the house because her mother wanted her to stay at home and study. She was in her bed looking at a picture, in the first shot, you can see the word "China" on her pillow. When the camera switched the position, the word "china" disappeared on her pillow. She clearly moved her position even though she was supposed to be in the same spot.

Movie Connections:

Features Malu tianshi (1937)

Sentimental but subtle study of post-Cultural Revolution Chinese experience

Jiang Xian uses the complex backstory of Ling Ling and Mao Daobing to study Mao's "cultural revolution" (1966-1976) at the village level. The film has the elements and pace of Chinese opera and so appears slow and sometimes sentimental to the foreign viewer. But the movie provides a window onto contemporary life in China, with its focus upon villagers in the city, the consuming quality of subsistence--daily struggle, family and local cruelties--and the appeal of movies as escape, fantasy, and, ultimately, as source of community. This last is the most radical element in the film, for it suggests the modern--and universal--experience of culture will replace the insular Chinese traditions. The child actors are particularly fine.