11 Flowers

The boyhood recollections of writer-director Wang Xiaoshuai provide the inspiration for this alternately charming and poignant coming-of-age tale that also carries a serious, if nicely understated, political subtext. Set during the last year of the Cultural Revolution in 1975-76, 11 Flowers focuses on 11-year-old Wang Han (Liu Wenqing), the son of a painter who was exiled from the city to work in a rural factory. The family struggles merely to keep food on the table, and when Wang is selected by his teacher to lead the school's daily exercise regimen, he's instructed to replace his tattered shirt—an expense that his mother shoulders despite financial difficulties. After only a couple of days, however, Wang encounters a man on the run from the police who snatches the shirt to staunch a wound. The fugitive turns out to be the son of another exile, who has taken violent revenge for a wrong done to his sister. The drama is punctuated by touching moments of closeness between father and son, as well as chilling episodes in which radicals and conservatives confront each other in the streets. Yet, despite the potent subject matter, 11 Flowers is essentially a gentle film that is ultimately quietly moving. Recommended. (F. Swietek)