There are just enough real issues here to keep our hearts engaged. And the quirky characters that inhabit this world keep us grinning, often with self-recognition. But it's all rather superficial, really, never getting under the skin to tackle complex family relationships, cultural change, advancing technology, community support and so on. All of these are nicely touched upon without saying much at all. And when you look closely, you can see how carefully written and structured the film really is--contrived, concocted and yet still completely winning. At least two of the central three performances are clever and interesting (Jiang's take on the mentally disabled is just a bit simplistic), and director Zhang fills the film with some very nice touches, although the gorgeous flashbacks to an even more history-locked part of China don't work very well. This is a part of world culture we rarely get so see with such intimate closeness; that and the film's ability to warm the cockles make it worth seeing ... if you don't expect too much.

themes, language, discreet nudity

23.Mar.01

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