An unusual tale of love and murder in the freezing north east.
In 1990, Guan Jing [Yu Zonghua], 24 year old worker in a large factory, reports his mother, Pu Fengying [Siqin Gowa], to the police for having murdered his father 10 years earlier.
The film flashes back to Guan’s harsh upbringing. His father, Guan Shicnnag [Ma Jingwu], is principal at the local school. He is a traditional man, sometimes violent and unbending.
When his mother meets woodcutter Liu Dagui [Wei Zi], the two begin an affair.
Of course, in the small town, old Guan soon gets to hear of this (not least from Jing who takes his side) and he confronts Pu. He wants to have it out with Liu but becomes mysteriously ill. He survives but, after eating a chicken cooked by Pu, he falls seriously ill and dies.
After the death Pu marries her lover but 14 year-old Guan Jing refuses to go with them (or to allow his two younger siblings to do so). It emerges that he tried to report his mother’s crime at the time but it was not followed up. Pu tries to return to her children but is initially prevented from doing so by her new husband.
When Jing returns home in 1990 as part of the investigation, we find that Pu is back caring for her children. They (and many of the village elders) are not well pleased by Jing’s desire for the truth (or attention).
Eventually, the father’s body is exhumed and the autopsy reveals that he was poisoned. Pu and Liu are found guilty and sentenced to death.
The film is technically a Hong Kong production but is shot on location and in Mandarin. It is written and directed by Hong Kong-born Yim Ho, apparently based on true events. It is hard to think of a contemporary, mainland film which provides such a bleak picture of Chinese rural life.
I don’t think it was ever released on the Mainland but it gets a deserved 7.9 on Douban. Director Yim won the Best Director Award at the 1994 Tokyo International Film Festival.
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