Having witnessed all his students died for conflicts among warlords and handicapped during a battle, a painter leaves his troop behind, settles down at a small utopia-like village and becomes a kite maker. This is early 1930's. He marries a local girl who never speaks. A young music student comes and takes the girl's heart away. Suddenly, Japan's war machine rolls into the quite village and everything beautiful is doomed.
Cinematography
Sweeping kite-filled skies against impending darkness.
Score
Gao Xiaosong's own music weaves through silence.
Acting
Chen Daoming's restrained grief in every brushstroke.
Director
Gao Xiaosong
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Director Gao Xiaosong was primarily a rock musician; this was his second and most personal film.
The village represents a real Shangri-la trope in Chinese cinema—idyllic spaces destroyed by Japanese invasion, reflecting collective trauma.
CN
