Rating: 
Summary: INCREDIBLE
Review: According to my friend from Beijing University Law Department. It was this film that made Gong Li a star in China. Her struggles against the petty fiefdom chieftan. As well as thoes further up the bureacratic food chain. Make you cheer her on in spite of the obvious stress it places on her and her family. This film is about dignity and how far a person will go to retain it in the face of indifference. No one wants to be a faceless minion who gets pushed around. So perhaps that why it struck such a powerful cord amongst the Chinese cinema going public. Gongi li has always given consistently powerfully realistic portrayals of very strong chinese women. This film is no exception. Even though there is considerable humour in her stubborn ness She is still a force to be reckoned. This is a must see !
Rating: 
Summary: I never guessed it would end like that...
Review: After her (Gong Li's) husband is kicked in the groin by the village cheif and needs to recover, her sole purpose in life becomes to get an apology from the cheif. He will not and she finds herself in a circle of struggle with "the system". The ending will surprise you. Be sure to check out other Gong Li movies, I havent been disappointed yet!
Rating:
Summary: The storyline is at once captivating
Review: Gong Li gives a mesmerising yet understated performance. Protagonists appear in the film more like real people in a documentary than actors. The storyline is simple but is at once captivating from the beginning till the ironic and memorable ending. Hilarious in parts, fluently executed throughout, this film is highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Good Movie
Review: I first saw Gong Li in "Raise the Red Lantern" So I had to see this one.
Here she plays a pregnant peasant woman, wife of a chili farmer. Who receives a kick in the groin, from the village chief. Because he believes the farmer insulted him.
Qiu Ju is hell bent on getting an apology for her husband. She is more determined in this than her husband. The chief offers money but throws it on the ground, saying then she will be forced to bow to him as she picks it up. She refuses. She sells their chilies a little at a time for money to travel to the city, to see if justice can be got there. But she's a country woman with not much city experience or money, can she do it? I won't spoil the ending---- Good movie.
Rating:
Summary: Good Movie
Review: I first saw Gong Li in "Raise the Red Lantern" So I had to see this one.
Here she plays a pregnant peasant woman, wife of a chili farmer. Who receives a kick in the groin, from the village chief. Because he believes the farmer insulted him.
Qiu Ju is hell bent on getting an apology for her husband. She is more determined in this than her husband. The chief offers money but throws it on the ground, saying then she will be forced to bow to him as she picks it up. She refuses. She sells their chilies a little at a time for money to travel to the city, to see if justice can be got there. But she's a country woman with not much city experience or money, can she do it? I won't spoil the ending---- Good movie.
Rating: 
Summary: A real disappointment
Review: I love this man's films - from Ju Dou (an early classic) up to The Road Home (saw it yesterday in the theater - beautiful...), but this one is really a bummer - none of the sweeping visual style or strong emotion, but lots of wandering around experiencing the dull, uninteresting pain of bureaucracy. Perhaps there is a China-specific commentary being made here that is of interest to some (most of the positive reviews here dwell on that), but if you like Zhang's movies for their more universal themes, don't disappoint yourself by watching this. If you've only seen one of his films and are interested in more, make sure you've seen Ju Dou and Raise the Red Lantern, as well as the lesser heard-of Shanghai Triad, which will also satisfy any Gong Li requirements you might have.
Rating:
Summary: OUTSTANDING in all respects
Review: I viewed this film on a CVD without benefit of subtitles and had to rely on a Cantonese speaking colleague to translate the Chinese subtitles. It was well worth the inconvenience (for both of us). It is a simple story that takes on comic proportions as the stubborn protagonist pursues her concept of justice through the snakelike pathways of the bureaucracy to an unexpected outcome - a universal problem that is as much in evidence in a democracy such as North America as it is anywhere. I lived in Hong Kong for twenty years ('66 - '86) and experienced only the farcical soap operas etc of the Hong Kong film industry. This production was an eye opener for me of the high quality that exists in Chinese films. It set me on a trail of discovery that has resulted in a substantial number of Chinese films on DVD gracing my bookshelf (some produced by Hong Kong companies - Shaw Brothers (HK)) Gong Li plays the role of the relentless, stubborn housewife superbly and is an actress who has built herself a solid reputation for excellence for her roles in many films. For a contrasting role by this brilliant star, I recommend Shanghai Triad. The film is also expertly crafted and shows how much can be done with a simple story in the hands of skilled film makers. This is also true of Shanghai Triad which I also remember for its music and photography. Some of the other Chinese films I admire are The Road Home, The King of Masks and Farewell My Concubine (which paved the way for me to the Peking opera The Peony Pavillion). I eagerly await the release of The Story of Qiu Ju for the North American market so it too can take its rightful place on the shelf among my other Chinese DVDs.
Rating:
Summary: OUTSTANDING in all respects
Review: I viewed this film on a CVD without benefit of subtitles and had to rely on a Cantonese speaking colleague to translate the Chinese subtitles. It was well worth the inconvenience (for both of us). It is a simple story that takes on comic proportions as the stubborn protagonist pursues her concept of justice through the snakelike pathways of the bureaucracy to an unexpected outcome - a universal problem that is as much in evidence in a democracy such as North America as it is anywhere. I lived in Hong Kong for twenty years ('66 - '86) and experienced only the farcical soap operas etc of the Hong Kong film industry. This production was an eye opener for me of the high quality that exists in Chinese films. It set me on a trail of discovery that has resulted in a substantial number of Chinese films on DVD gracing my bookshelf (some produced by Hong Kong companies - Shaw Brothers (HK)) Gong Li plays the role of the relentless, stubborn housewife superbly and is an actress who has built herself a solid reputation for excellence for her roles in many films. For a contrasting role by this brilliant star, I recommend Shanghai Triad. The film is also expertly crafted and shows how much can be done with a simple story in the hands of skilled film makers. This is also true of Shanghai Triad which I also remember for its music and photography. Some of the other Chinese films I admire are The Road Home, The King of Masks and Farewell My Concubine (which paved the way for me to the Peking opera The Peony Pavillion). I eagerly await the release of The Story of Qiu Ju for the North American market so it too can take its rightful place on the shelf among my other Chinese DVDs.
Rating:
Summary: Be careful what you wish for
Review: I was very looking forward to seeing this movie, and I did enjoy it, but, I think not many americans would endure the entire movie.The main character, Qiu-Ju, is very pregnant, and a woman with a mission. The village Chief kicked her husband in the "privates" ( bad call, but not unprevoked ) and he is "out of commision" for a few weeks. Understandly, she wants justice in the form of an apology. She goes through all the correct legal roads in China and time and time again they come up with the same verdict. The chief has to pay medical bills and loss of wages and a little more, but Qiu_Ju only wants an apology. The Chief is a proud man who will not "bend". Most of the movie is Qiu-Ju and her sister-in-law trudging by foot up and down small roads to big cities with little or no conversation. Her husband and family wish her to stay home and "get over it" but she is stubborn! I will not spoil the end, but "be careful what you wish for"! not everyone's cup of tea
Rating:
Summary: Like a Documentary
Review: If you are looking for action or high romance, this isn't the film for you. But if you are looking for a simple story that for me played out more like a documentary than a story line for a movie I think you will enjoy it. The rural scenes and settings are real. The village, journeys and settings are all real China, not a Hollywood set. And the background actors are incredibly real people who don't work for screen actors guild. For the person who thought the story couldn't be reality, have you lived under the Chinese communist system?
Having studied communism, visited both China and the Soviet Union in the early 1980's and spent a year in Korea during the war, I find this movie to be a startlingly realistic comparison of the rural way of life in China contrasted with a relatively modern city life and bureaucracy that the average Chinese peasant rarely if ever sees. The story is cute, realistic, and has some very subtle humor mixed in, and has an ending that is more rapid and somewhat more unexpected than the preceding story. Of course it doesn't hurt that Gong Li, my favorite Chinese actress, does a great acting job either.
To think that this movie, which pokes fun at the communist system, was made and released in China is even more remarkable.
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