The Story of Qiu Ju (4 Stars)

In my review of "Codename Cougar" I claimed that it was Zhang Yimou's only film set in the present day. I was wrong. His fifth film, "The Story of Qiu Ju", made in 1992, is another present day film. In some ways it's also untypical for his films, even though it deals with themes that are common in his early films.

Qinglai is a peasant who grows red chilis. He wants to build a small wooden barn to store them on his land, but the local chief doesn't allow it. He says that the land is only for growing, not for any sort of buildings. It comes to an argument. Qinglai says that the chief can only grow hens, referring to the fact that he's only had daughters. The chief kicks Qinglai in the groin, injuring him so badly that he's unable to work for two months.

This is where the film starts. Qinglai himself is a humble man and accepts what the chief did to him. His wife Qiu Ju demands justice. She complains to the local constable, who tells the chief to pay Qinglai's medical bills and give him 200 yuan to compensate for lost earnings. That's only $30, but in rural China it was considered adequate. For Qiu Ju it's not about the money. She wants the chief to apologise, but he insists that Qinglai deserved the kick. She appeals to the county, who pass the same judgement. Then she travels to the (unnamed) large city, who increase the compensation to 250 yuan, but she's still not happy.

The film is about a woman's stubbornness in the face of Chinese bureaucracy. The film historian Tony Rayns points out that the Chinese bureaucrats are portrayed as untypically friendly, which is probably the reason why "The Story of Qiu Ju" was the first of Zhang Yimou's films that wasn't banned in China.

The film seems to have a lot of extras, but they aren't voluntary participants. It was filmed in busy streets with hidden cameras. That probably wouldn't be legal in America. In the 1990's the Chinese film industry was in a state of turmoil, which meant that nobody knew what was allowed and what wasn't.

Gong Li is the pregnant woman in the red coat. She was a famous film star in China, but nobody recognised her dressed as a peasant.

It's a very slow moving film. For the first 30 minutes I didn't enjoy it. It seemed boring. Then it grew on me, as I began to appreciate the film's subtleties.