Rating: 
Summary: Poignant
Review: This is a story of the abused and abusers of the system in Communist China. Idealistic kids were sent down to the countryside by Mao to learn to appreciate peasants who neither needed nor wanted them there. Telling any more would give away the tear-jerker moments. Suffice to say, you will get angry, you will cry, and you will better understand some of the tumult that was China after the Cultural Revolution.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent!
Review: This is about the best Chinese movie I've seen. Superb acting by Lu Lu and Lopsang (Wen Xiu and Lao Jin). Beautiful Tibetan scenery. Living in China for two years, as I did, means this film is especially meaningful to me. I've done a lot of reading about the Cultural Revolution, but this as much as anything brings home the suffering my Chinese friends went through during this time.
Rating:
Summary: Visually Stunning. Soundtrack: Firechiq see below!
Review: This is quite a piece, and it was quite a feat the way Joan Chen filmed it in the most isolated regions of Sichuan and Tibet. The landscape is incredible, and the story is heart-rending. I know a couple of things about the movie that may be of interest to Firechiq (below). The sound track was done by Taiwanese pop music icon Johnny Cheng (his Chinese stage name "hsiao ch'ong" means little bug or little worm), and it is a best-selling CD in Taiwan and Hong Kong. I'm not sure how to get it in the US. And the story is based on "Celestial Bath," by Chinese author Geling Yan (Yan Geling), and it is to be found in English translation in the story collection "White Snake and Other Stories," available on amazon.com.
Rating: 
Summary: Massively Depressing
Review: This is quite possibly the most depressing movie I have ever seen. All the usual suspects are present - unrequited love, abandonment, physcial abuse,mental torture, hoplessness, etc. The constant barage of tragedy doesn't really make it enjoyable in any sense of the word, but I watched the whole thing, relatively engrossed, and talked about it for a couple of weeks after. Certainly an effecting and affected film.
Rating: 
Summary: Too sad
Review: This is too sad movie. I rented this to see the glimpse of tibet. The movie is about Chinese cultural revolution when millions of young people were sent to remote corner of the country. This girl wants to go back to her home but she is helpless. Her parents are poor and don't have connections to save her from being thrust into this movement. She tries in vain to appease everyone who could help her go back home and ultimately she asks the person (a father figure) to kill herself. The visuals are of stunning landscape. The girl is so pretty and the end is too sad. I don't like sad movies and thats why i am giving it a rating of 4
Rating: 
Summary: Good, not great
Review: This movie has some elements of an excellent movie -- the scenery and acting are fantastic -- but the good qualities are ultimately overwhelmed by melodrama. Particularly the last hour is a transparent set-up culminating in a manipulative ending. It is a shame really that this movie went the path of melodrama, because an honest portayal of sent-down youth would be extremely interesting. There is no doubt of the insanity of the Cultural Revolution, but the reality was far more complicated than Joan Chen wants to portray here. Ironically, she seems in the end to be making a anti-PRC film as propaganda driven as anything originating from the Cultural Revolution. Those interested in a film dealing with events from this time period would be better served by watching Zhang Yimou's To Live, which is a FAR superior movie.
Rating:
Summary: Great Movie, Great Work and Fabulous Film By Joan Chen!!
Review: This movie is absolutely breath-taking!!! This movie is certainly very melancholy and sad, but very wonderful and a very beautifully filmed story. If you are interested in getting the soundtrack, you can buy it at [another website]. Just check in the soundtracks section. It is a beautiful CD as well!!
Rating:
Summary: best movie of 1999
Review: This movie is something that many people will overlook, i'm afraid, because it was played in very few theaters throughout the US. Everything about this movie was done perfectly. The beautiful landscapes portrayed throughout the movie along with Xiu Xiu's change in appearance and behavior really showed how much this movie meant to Chen. Anyone i've talked to about this movie agreed that it was the best they'd seen this year.
Rating:
Summary: Superb
Review: This movie is superb. The gradually increasing and ultimately immense love of the Tibetan horse herder for Xiu Xiu is more than merely believable, it is perfectly portrayed. His willingness to do anything, including killing Xiu Xiu after fighting for life before shows the kind of love he really has.The movie is more than engaging, it sucks you into this love affair set times when living was not easy and the country in turmoil. The ending may be anticipated by some, but I did not see it coming. I recommend this movie to everyone who wants a rich and moving experience. The acting is great and the music is haunting. It is, quite honestly, on of the best movies I have ever seen.
Rating:
Summary: It was a compelling, sad movie
Review: This movie made me think for days. These poor girls had to suffer similar or worse fates than Xiu Xiu. I felt the most sympathy with Lao Ching because he had to see Xiu Xiu deteriorate before his own eyes. I loved the way the director made the gradual loss of her innocence. In the beginning she was so innocent and did not want anyone to see her naked. In the end, she did not care.
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