In the Heat of the Sun (1994)

The story of four teenagers in Beijing during the Cultural Revolution.

Director:

Wen Jiang

Writers:

Wen Jiang, Shuo Wang (story "Wild Beasts")

Stars:

Yu Xia, Wei Chen, Shaobo Dai

10 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Yu Xia	...	Ma Xiaojun
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Wei Chen
Shaobo Dai	...	Yang Gao
Hua Fang	...	Old general
Xiaogang Feng	...	Mr. Hu
Le Geng	...	Liu Yiku (as Geng Le)
Dong Han	...	Ma Xiaojun (child)
Wen Jiang	...	Ma Xiaojun (adult)
Bin Liu	...	Liu Sitian (adult)
Xiaoning Liu	...	Liu Yiku (adult)
Jing Ning	...	Mi Lan
Nan Shang	...	Liu Sitian
Gaowa Siqin	...	Mother
Hong Tao	...	Yu Beipei
Shuo Wang	...	Small-time conman

Storyline

MA Xiaojun, a teenager boy, enjoying 100% freedom, grew up brutally in Beijing in the special days of cultural revolution. With nothing to do in schools, he began to sneak into strangers' homes using a self-made key. One day, he opened a door, entering the house of MI Lan. Without any notice, Mi came back home early, making MA nowhere to hide but under the bed. He saw the well-shaped young girl changing and naturally, as a teenager boy, he fell into the puppy love. Without any agenda or expectation, he tried to court the girl... Time passed away, young boys and girls changed. When looking back at the days of puberty, it seems the Sun shined strongly everyday. And the heat of the sun, though far fading, can still be felt in the memories of the people of that generation. Long story short, it is a Chinese version of the sorrows of younger Werther.

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Plot Keywords:

republican era china | beijing china | coming of age | narrated by character | year 1969 | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Did You Know?

Trivia

Ranked number 98 non-English-speaking film in the critics' poll conducted by the BBC in 2018.

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Alternate Versions

Ma Xiaojun's 3-minute dream was cut from the final/official Chinese DVD version, but was available on one bootleg VHS version around '95-'97. Many characters only can be seen in this dream still appear in the ending credit (e.g., 4 fake Japanese soldiers, etc.).

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Connections

Features Lenin in 1918 (1939)

User Reviews

it reminds us of the first love we had long ago

it reminds us of the first love we had long ago, and nothing can restrain the passion of those young with full of confusion and possibilities. We are always amazed by those colorful characters formed under the certain political time. This film has successfully reached to the part that all human beings share with no matter what political conditions. Although the specific time is long gone and would never come back to China, those old, pure and simplified memories would never fate away. It will always be part of the history and part of us. It is not that simple to tag that time as wrong or right, it was just there, always there, with some smell some colours we never want to leave behind.

Details

Country:

China Hong Kong

Language:

Mandarin

Release Date:

1994 (China)

Also Known As:

Yangguang Canlan de Tizi

Filming Locations:

China

Box Office

Budget:

$2,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

China Film Co-Production Corporation, Dragon Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

134 min 140 min (digital restored) 225 min (rough cut) 128 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1