Hibiscus Town

Hibiscus Town
Traditional	芙蓉鎮
Simplified	芙蓉镇
Pinyin	Fú róng zhèn
Directed by	Xie Jin
Written by	Ah Cheng Xie Jin Novel: Gu Hua
Starring	Jiang Wen Liu Xiaoqing
Music by	Ge Yan
Cinematography	Lu Junfu
Studio	Shanghai Film Studio
Release date(s)	1986
Running time	164 mins.
Country	China
Language	Mandarin

Hibiscus Town is a 1986 Chinese film directed by Xie Jin, based on a novel by the same name written by Gu Hua. The film, a melodrama, follows the life and travails of a young woman who lives through the turmoil of the Cultural Revolution and as such is an example of the "scar drama" genre that emerged in the 1980s and 1990s that detailed life during that period. The film was produced by the Shanghai Film Studio.

Cast

• Liu Xiaoqing as Hu Yuyin, the film's heroine, a young woman who is caught up in the political turmoil of China's Cultural Revolution
• Liu Linian as Li Guigui, Yuyin's first husband
• Jiang Wen as Qin Shutian, a "bourgeoisie" rightist who falls in love with Yuyin

Plot

The film follows Hu Yuyin (Liu Xiaoqing), a young woman in a small Chinese town on the eve of the Cultural Revolution is happily married and runs a successful roadside food stall selling spicy beancurd. Yuyin is supported by Party members Li Mangeng, who once wanted to marry her, and Director Gu, a war veteran in charge of the granary. But in 1964 the Four Cleanups Movement sends a Party work-team to root out Rightists and capitalist roaders. The team is led by Li Guoxiang,a single woman, and helped by Wang Qingshe, a former poor peasant who has lost his land because of his drinking. At a public struggle session, Yuyin is declared to be a "new rich peasant." Both her home and business are taken from her and her husband, Li Guigui (Liu Linian) commits suicide in despair.

After the first waves of the Revolution have ended, Yuyin returns to the town, now relegated to a lowly street sweeper. She then falls in love with Qin Shutian (Jiang Wen), who had come in the 1950s to collect local folksongs but was declared to be one of the Five Black Categories. When Yuyin becomes pregnant, however, this loving relationship attracts the outrage of Li Guoxiang and Wang Qiushe, who themselves are having a secret affair. Shutian is sent to reform through labor and it is not until Deng Xiaoping's reforms in 1978 that his case is reviewed and he is allowed to return and help Yuyin re-establish their street restaurant.

Reception

Awards

• Golden Rooster Awards, 1987
  • Best Film
  • Best Actress — Liu Xiaoqing
  • Best Supporting Actress — Xu Ning
  • Best Art Direction— Jin Qifen
• Hundred Flowers Awards, 1987
  • Best Film — tied with Sun Zhongshan and Xue zhan Taierzhuang
  • Best Actor — Jiang Wen
  • Best Actress — Liu Xiaoqing
  • Best Supporting Actor — Zhu Shibin
• Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, 1988
  • Crystal Globe, Grand Prix

Further reading

• Browne, Nick. "Society and Subjectivity: On the Political Economy of Chinese Melodrama," in New Chinese Cinemas: Forms, Identities, Politics. Cambridge: CUP, 1994, 57-87.
• Hayford, Charles W. "Hibiscus Town: Revolution, Love and Bean Curd." In Chris Berry, ed., Chinese Films in Focus: 25 New Takes. London: BFI Publishing, 2003, 120-27.
• Kipnis, Andrew. "Anti-Maoist Gender: Hibiscus Town's Naturalization of a Dengist Sex/Gender/Kinship System." Asian Cinema 8, 2 (Winter 1996-97): 66-75.

See also

• Cultural Revolution- background of the film

External links

• Hibiscus Town at the Internet Movie Database
• Hibiscus Town at Allmovie
• Hibiscus Town article from China.org
• Hibiscus Town from the Chinese Movie Database
• Overview and questions of Hibiscus Town from Ohio State University

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