Sunflower is the story of the Zhang family in Beijing father, mother and son across three decades, centering on the tensions and misunderstandings between father and son. Nine-year-old Xiangyang is having the time of his life, free of adult supervision until the day he meets the father he can hardly remember. Having spent years away, he returns with strong ideas about his son learning to draw. But Xiangyang chafes under his father's constant rules and soon stages his own revolution against the lessons enforced.
Acting
Joan Chen's restrained devastation will wreck you.
Direction
Zhang Yang captures three decades without losing intimacy.
Cinematography
Beijing's changing light mirrors a cracking father-son bond.
Director
Zhang Yang
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Zhang Yang's 'Beijing Trilogy' (Shower, Sunflower, Getting Home) maps China's urban transformation through family fracture.
The film was banned from Chinese theatres for its unflinching portrayal of Cultural Revolution trauma and filial rupture—ironic, given Xiangyang's own censored rebellion.
CN
