Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by tinear (A) on January 05, 2010 at 20:00:58

of directors, Li Shaohong.
A young girl, abandoned by her well-educated but very poor rural parents is sent to live with relatives in Beijing. Surprisingly, she is accepted to university but, just as her life begins to offer some hope---- her innocence succumbs to the considerable charms of a young slacker who, with his meager earnings from a delivery job, showers her with gifts, attention, and promises of everlasting love.
Sounds.... mushy, melodramatic, soap-opera like, eh?
Wrong. This is one of the most hard-hitting films about current day China, what it's like for young people trying to survive or to rise above a subsistence level. But it's not a sociological film, at all, but one of the most searing portrayals of a young woman you'll ever see--- a modern day Chinese "Jane Eyre."
The lead actress Zhou Xun has the intensity and beauty of the young Angelina Jolie and her lover, Wu Jun, gives a totally natural portrayal of a complex young man.
Do NOT miss this film!