Yu Xiaoqin steals money from her father and blames on her sister Tao Lan, who accidentally kills her sister while attempting to prove her innocence. After 17 years in jail, Tao Lan is escorted by a guard only to find her home long demolished. The two go to the new address of her ageing parents, and the guard becomes witness to the family's difficult reunion.
Guò nián huí jiā, 過年回家, Diciassette anni
Italy
Italy
"Guo nian hui jia" aka "Seventeen Years" was quietly a somber, tough and touching movie, IMO.
The plot is pretty much what the synopsis says. The movie feels remarkably quiet and even quite "flowing", in a way, though there's a lot of underlying emotion and "heaviness" building towards the conclusion.
Solid acting from the "core" cast, in particular Lin Liu and Bingbing Li, the main duo (the character were also quite interesting and captivating, in their own ways).
I really enjoyed the soundtrack, which I felt added to the general "sentiment" of the movie. There's guilt, grief, resentment and such (even numbness), very much in a non-melodramatic way. Things are quite understated and even minimal, though still effective with a…
Zhang Yuan’s slow-burn melodrama starts with a casually petty act between stepsisters and grows ever more bitter and heartbroken the more everyone ponders just how much it ended up costing. “Those five yuan! What have they done to us?” A lament for a broken family as much as for a society around them changing beyond any kind of recognizability; one sister’s reluctant return home after seventeen years in prison like wandering through an alien and hostile landscape. “Everything’s been demolished and rebuilt! You’ll get lost.” The incredibly staged (and immensely moving) climax is like wondering what can be reconciled and what can’t; coming up with a little lie to keep them together when the state’s lies increasingly tell them they’re each alone.
i was on the verge of tears for damn near this whole film. damn.
when i saw li bingbing's name i figured she was one of the 16yr old girls, but i wasn't sure which. couldn't map her.
later when a female prison guard shows up, it took one scene and then another, but i googled her age, and yeah, that's her. she's 26 or so in that role, wearing a hilariously oversized uniform like playing dress up, but wearing it with nothing other than shining confidence.
it's her who gives meaning to lin lius also very good, but essentially silent performance, as a woman whose been imprisoned for 17 years since the age of 16. she steps into the…
One of those super obscure films that I came across in the library and thought "why not?". Worth the risk, because this was surprisingly moving. Her prison sentence seems ridiculously long, but it leads to some great drama as she endeavours to return home. Great performances all around, especially from Liu Lin and Li Bingbing.
I've had to watch a lot of films for my Chinese film class this semester, and unfortunately, I can't say I cared for most of them. They often felt drawn out, melodramatic and left much to be desired in terms of pacing. Seventeen Years is a refreshing change of pace, as the film's documentary-like style creates a more intimate experience, capturing every thought and feeling of its few characters. I truly felt moved by the film's emotional ending, leaving me in aww how it did so much with so little.
The concepts of family angst, betrayal and bittersweet redemption are revealed through a wonderfully talented cast, playing out their roles with beautiful subtlety and believability. The story is heart wrenching yet encouraging I highly recommend and adore the vision of Zhang Yuan and this work of cinematic art that is still this date banned in China.
Dedicato all’Italia che credeva nel cinema cinese.
Dedicato a chi riuscì a tornare.
Wanted to watch something fitting for Chinese New Year, so I picked this - the original Chinese title translates to “Go Home For New Year”. Really interesting story, and I love the look of pre-development era China. The film portrays an emotionally complex new year, which unfortunately really did end up being very fitting :/
going insane over the guard and tao lan's little moments!! i shipped them so hard since the lipstick scene
“You should be reborn as a woman in the next life, so I can marry you again.” Amidst a very painful scene, this sticks with me
