This movie gives an accurate picture of political persecution of patriotic oversea Chinese who returned to China after the revolution.
What these idealists did not expect was the political movements that would come later, and their consequent suffering simply because their oversea connections. The movie is a critic and introspection on the turmoil era of China, started with the political movement launched by Mao in 1957, the Anti-Rightist movement, by describing the suffering of a single scientist, as well as those he knows.
However, the movie did not tell a complete story in that the political persecution was not described accurately enough, for example, the suicides committed by those who could not take the abuse anymore, and the massive starvation caused by the Great Leap Forward movement launched by Mao.
What these idealists did not expect was the political movements that would come later, and their consequent suffering simply because their oversea connections. The movie is a critic and introspection on the turmoil era of China, started with the political movement launched by Mao in 1957, the Anti-Rightist movement, by describing the suffering of a single scientist, as well as those he knows.
However, the movie did not tell a complete story in that the political persecution was not described accurately enough, for example, the suicides committed by those who could not take the abuse anymore, and the massive starvation caused by the Great Leap Forward movement launched by Mao.