One of the frontrunners in the New Chinese Cinema, director's Xie Fei and U Lan's Girl From Hunan is a gorgeous period piece that adds a new twist to a familiar theme. Set at the turn of the century, the film stars Na Renhua as Xiao-Xiao, a 12-year-old-girl from Hunan who is sent to an outlying farm for an arranged marriage. The groom, Chuan Guan, is a little antsy, and actually begins bawling during the ceremony, which is not that surprising considering that hubby is barely two-years-old. Out of this bittersweet premise, complications arise when Xiao-Xiao turning 16, begins to feel the stirrings of adolescent sexuality. Playing in the field with her husband, now a boisterous 6-year-old, is becoming a little old hat. Sensing an opening in Xiao-Xiao's emotions, a farmhand named Hua Gou (Deng Xiaotuang), seduces her and she becomes pregnant. With adultery carrying strict punishments (ranging from severe beatings to death), the frightened Xiao-Xiao must decide what to do for her immediate future. As with other recent Chinese imports (Zhang Yimou's Red Sorghum and Ju Dou, for example), the cinematography in Girl From Hunan is breathtaking--from sweeping landscape shots to strange sights, such as a group of boys tossing rocks at water buffaloes. Too, the cultural differences (in this case, the arranged marriage of different-aged children) offer Western audiences a chance to reflect on morals and situations completely unfamiliar to our own culture. Highly recommended. (R. Pitman)
Girl From Hunan
color. 99 min. In Mandarin w/English subtitles. New Yorker Video. (1988). $79.95. Not rated Library Journal
Girl From Hunan
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