The Story of Qiu Ju

Shown: 27 February 1999
Introduced by Derek Malcolm

China 1992 (subtitles)
Directed by Yimou Zhang
Leading players - Gong Li, Liu Pei Qi and Lei Lao Sheng

Synopsis

After her husband Quing Lai (Liu Pei Qi) is kicked in the groin by the Village Chief, Wang (Led Lao Sheng), for making fun of his inability to produce a son, Qiu Ju (Gong Li), decides that something must be done. After all, medical costs and lost wages are hard for a peasant family to bear and, as she tells her husband, "If we can't fix your plumbing, we're stuck with the single-child policy for good".

In her defence of the family jewels, the heavily pregnant Qiu Ju takes her case to ascending levels of bureaucracy. Initially Wang himself, then the Public Security Bureau and eventually court in the provincial capital. The slow turning of the wheels of justice in the Peoples' Republic is matched only by Qiu Ju's naive determination not to let the matter rest.

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Unlike many of Zhang's recent films, "The Story of Qiu Ju" is a contemporary tale. It has also been made without the benefit of foreign backing and although visually it may lack the richness of his period epics "Raise the Red Lantern ", "Ju Dou" and "Red Sorghum" it is testimony to Zhang's art that this is still a very good looking film.

Zhang skilfully contrasts the featureless landscapes of the remote north-west province of Shaanxi with the bustle of the big city. However, one constant remains - the struggle just to get by, to live, in a dehumanised country, where the weight of totalitarianism threatens to crush everyone. Surprisingly "The Story of Qiu Ju" is the only one of Zhang's films not to be banned in his own country.

"The Story of Qiu Ju" won the Golden Lion Award at the 1992 Venice Film Festival.