We finally watched this a few nights ago. I brought the DVD back from China a few months ago. This is an extremely good movie -- in my opinion one of the best movies from China that I have seen in a while -- and I am surprised and disappointed that it hasn't been released in the states yet. This is not a bloated and overwrought effort at an epic of the sort that has become so common in China.
This is a touching study of the siblings in a single family, and their struggle to get by. This may seem like an odd analogy, but watching it made me think of Yasujiro Ozu's movies. Obviously the film is about China and not Japan, but there are some parallels in terms of the use of a single family as a lens for evoking a changing society. Someone with an interest in China could learn a lot about society there during the seventies and eighties.
As one would expect given Gu Changwei's background as a cinematographer, the film is absolutely beautiful to look at.
I hope this is released in the States - if it hasn't been already - so others have an opportunity to enjoy it.
