Kino Eye: Chinese film after “socialist realism”
After 1949 Chinese filmmaking was trapped in a version of “socialist realism”. Eventually the filmmakers of the so-called “Fifth Generation” broke away from that deadening practice, starting with Chen Kaige’s Yellow Earth (1984), with brilliant cinematography by Zhang Yimou. The film follows the journey of Gu Qing (played by Xueqi Wang), a soldier in the People’s Liberation Army sent to a remote region to collect folk songs. He moves in with a family of poor peasants. Gu Qing struggles to convince the peasants of his aims. He impresses 14 year old Cuiqiao (Bai Xue), the daughter of the...