Zhou's husband died in the Cultural Revolution. She lived arduously with her only son. Lo, a kind postman, helped her during her hardest time.
Acting
Xu Lei's silences speak entire histories of loss.
Direction
Bai Chen frames intimacy like a crime scene—always watched.
Director
Bai Chen
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Made during China's 'scar literature' period, this was one of the first films to humanize Cultural Revolution survivors without heroic framing—just exhausted people trying to live.
Director Bai Chen cast actual Shanghai residents as background; their real hesitation in crowd scenes wasn't acting—it was learned survival behavior.
