The Blue Kite (Tian Zhuangzhuang, 1997): ICA Cinema, 6.15pm
This is the latest in the ICA's Celluoid on Sunday 35mm screenings.
Time Out review:
About the experiences of a Beijing family - seen largely through the
eyes of its youngest member, Tietou - between 1953 and 1967, Tian's epic
domestic drama is a direct, honest account of how Mao's policies
affected the lives of ordinary people. While the steadily darkening tale
makes for a film at least partly about death and absence, it focuses
not on those who are exiled or die, but on those left behind. Tian's
method is understatement, with the result that the trials faced by
Shujuan (Lu Liping), her brothers and sister, her three husbands and her
son Tietou become all the more plausible and affecting. There's an
immense amount of telling detail, and Tian manages to express both
sympathy and righteous anger without once resorting to bombast or
sentimentality. A masterly blend of the personal and the political.
Geoff Andrew
Here (and above) is the trailer.
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