Main Cast: Dong Bowen, Ning Yuanyuan, Chen Manyuan, Zhao Rui, Li Xiaofeng
Release Year: 2005
Country: CN/IT
Run Time: 91 minutes
Plot
Crazy English director Zhang Yuan weaves a telling tale of conformity and the high price of independence in this screen adaptation of author Wang Shuo's popular novel concerning a young orphan's attempt to fit in among his new classmates and earn the respect of his stern teacher. Effectively orphaned after being abandoned at a Beijing kindergarten, young Qiang has a difficult time adapting to the school's strict new set of rules. In a place where obedience and good behavior is rewarded with precious red flowers, Qiang's inability to conform is only highlighted by his glaring lack of the highly coveted blossoms. As Qiang's constant bedwetting and difficult behavior draw the ire of his short-fused teacher, Mrs. Li, the troubled young child's unintentional rebellion finds him increasingly ostracized by his conformist-minded peers. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Cast
Dong Bowen
Ning Yuanyuan
Chen Manyuan
Zhao Rui
Li Xiaofeng
Chen Li; Zhang Weihua; Fu Yingjie
Credit
Wang Mo Chou - Associate Producer, Alex Z. Jia - Associate Producer, Li Songlin - First Assistant Director, Zhang Yuan - Director, Jacopo Quadri - Editor, Wang Shuo - Executive Producer, Carlo Crivelli - Composer (Music Score), Huo Tingxiao - Production Designer, Yang Tao - Cinematographer, Zhang Yuan - Producer, Marco Mueller - Producer, Li Bowen - Producer, Allen Chan - Producer, Wu Lala - Sound/Sound Designer, Ning Dai - Screenwriter, Zhang Yuan - Screenwriter, Wang Shuo - Book Author
Little Red Flowers (Chinese: 看上去很美; pinyin: Kàn shàng qù hén měi) is a 2006Chinese filmdirected by Zhang Yuan. The film was a co-production between China's Beijing Century Good-Tidings Cultural Development Company LTD and Italy's Downtown Pictures. The Dutch company, Fortissimo Films handled worldwide sales.
The film, based on author Wang Shuo's semi-autobiographical novel, Could Be Beautiful, follows a young four-year old boy, Fang Qiangqiang, at a kindergarten boarding school. Deposited into a world that demands conformity (rewarded by the titular little red flowers), Qiang suffers for his independence.
The film is Zhang's second adaptation of a novel by Wang, after 2003's I Love You.[1]
Little Red Flowers has premiered at several international film festivals. It premiered at the 2006 Berlin International Film Festival on February 15, 2006, as part of the Panorama series. In Berlin, it won the C.I.C.A.E. Award. The film also premiered at other major festivals including Sundance (as part of the World Cinema competition), and Cannes where it was in-competition.
