Sunflower 2005

Sunflower 2005

Sunflower 2005
Xiang ri kui (original title)
2h 9min | Drama, Romance | 17 August 2007 (USA)

Storyline:

Relationship between father and son on a background of Maoist regime in China in the mid-20th century. The father, a painter by profession, interned in a labor camp for “re-education” and loses his ability to paint. he teaches his son to draw, but does so obsessively. The convoluted relationship between father and son that spread over the period of childhood, adolescence and maturity of the son are being resolved in a surprising and sensitive way.

User review:

Yang Zhang’s film ‘Sunflower’ explores the changing face of China over thirty years, seen through the prism of a stormy father-son relationship. The authority of family has always been important in traditional Chinese culture, so this is a believable conflict in a story of China entering the modern age. However, the movie is not especially subtle, the father figure does little more than assert that others should do what he asks them, and the use of Western music is disappointing, it doesn’t feel like the soundtrack of these characters’ lives. I still enjoyed the film, the story is never forced and it gives one a flavour of how one might imagine life in China to be. But at heart it’s a conventional tale.

Director: Yang Zhang
Writers: Shangjun Cai, Xin Huo
Stars: Joan Chen, Zhang Fan, Ge Gao
Country: Hong Kong | China | Netherlands
Language: Mandarin | English
Release Date: 17 August 2007 (USA)
Also Known As: Sunflower
Filming Locations: Beijing, China