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Yellow Earth

Original title: Huang tu di
  • 1984
  • TV-PG
  • 1h 29m
IMDb RATING
7.1/10
2.5K
YOUR RATING
Yellow Earth (1984)
DramaHistoryMusic

'Yellow Earth' focuses on the story of a communist soldier who is sent to the countryside to collect folk songs for the Communist Revolution. There he stays with a peasant family and learns ... Read all'Yellow Earth' focuses on the story of a communist soldier who is sent to the countryside to collect folk songs for the Communist Revolution. There he stays with a peasant family and learns that the happy songs he was sent to collect do not exist; the songs he finds are about har... Read all'Yellow Earth' focuses on the story of a communist soldier who is sent to the countryside to collect folk songs for the Communist Revolution. There he stays with a peasant family and learns that the happy songs he was sent to collect do not exist; the songs he finds are about hardship and suffering. He returns to the army, but promises to come back for the young girl,... Read all

  • Director
    • Kaige Chen
  • Writers
    • Kaige Chen
    • Lan Ke
    • Ziliang Zhang
  • Stars
    • Xueqi Wang
    • Bai Xue
    • Quiang Liu
  • See production, box office & company info
  • IMDb RATING
    7.1/10
    2.5K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Kaige Chen
    • Writers
      • Kaige Chen
      • Lan Ke
      • Ziliang Zhang
    • Stars
      • Xueqi Wang
      • Bai Xue
      • Quiang Liu
    • 19User reviews
    • 12Critic reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 8 wins & 3 nominations

    Photos70

    Yellow Earth (1984)
    Yellow Earth (1984)
    Xueqi Wang in Yellow Earth (1984)
    Yellow Earth (1984)
    Yellow Earth (1984)
    Bai Xue in Yellow Earth (1984)
    Bai Xue in Yellow Earth (1984)
    Bai Xue in Yellow Earth (1984)
    Bai Xue and Xueqi Wang in Yellow Earth (1984)
    Bai Xue in Yellow Earth (1984)
    Bai Xue and Xueqi Wang in Yellow Earth (1984)
    Bai Xue in Yellow Earth (1984)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Xueqi Wang
    Xueqi Wang
    • Gu Quing - The Soldier
    • (as Xueyin Wang)
    Bai Xue
    • Cuiqiao - The Girl
    Quiang Liu
    • Hanhan - The Boy
    Tuo Tan
    • The Father
    • Director
      • Kaige Chen
    • Writers
      • Kaige Chen
      • Lan Ke(novel)
      • Ziliang Zhang(screenplay)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The film was filmed near Yan'An, which is considered the motherland of the Chinese cultural revolution.
    • Connections
      Featured in The Story of Film: An Odyssey: Fight the Power: Protest in Film (2011)

    User reviews19

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    7/10
    A film of great importance with a bold story
    A young slodier from the communist party is sent to northern China to collect some "happy" fols songs for helping the party boost army's morale during the battle against Japanese invasion in 1939 shortly before WW2. There he meets a farmer family- a father and 2 kids- but all songs they know is about endless suffering and pain.

    Director Kaige Chen uses this setting to build up a rather interesting encounter between 1. a young soldier full of ideologies and strong beliefs and 2. a poor family in rural north China with extreme living difficulties and hardships. The young soldier believes that sickles and hammers will help these poor people and build them roads but we as viewers know that such things won't happen, we've seen that no ideology will end these circumstances.

    The film is believed to be a Chinese communist propaganda vessel but what I gathered from this film was that it shows communism- maybe not directly- as yet another incompetent, useless set of beliefs.

    This is not an enjoyable film, nor is it easy to watch. It feels really long for 86 minutes and it desparately needs a restoration. What it does however, is it opens discussions with friends, it makes people think and of course it's a very influential, historically important cinematic piece.
    helpful•1
    0
    • mbrcf
    • Feb 17, 2020

    FAQ1

    • Why is this a "classic"?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • 1988 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • China
    • Language
      • Mandarin
    • Also known as
      • Huang Tudi
    • Production company
      • Guangxi Film Studio
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 29 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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