Freely adapted from Gabriel García Márquez’s Chronicle of a Death Foretold, the film follows the investigation of a local teacher’s murder in a small and desperately poor rural village, the story of the crime gradually pieced together from the fragmented memories of witnesses forced to testify at an inquest. Sharing with her Fifth Generation colleagues Chen Kaige and Tian Zhuangzhuang a remarkable eye for the barren landscapes of northern China and a fascination with small-town life — especially those enduring superstitions that Communism failed to erase — director Li Shaohong also introduces several formal innovations, particularly in storytelling structure, that remain unprecedented in Chinese cinema.
Tag: woman director
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The Panama Deception
This winner of the 1993 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature details the case that the 1989 invasion of Panama by the US was motivated not by the need to protect American soldiers, restore democracy or even capture Noriega. It was to force Panama to submit the will of the United States after Noriega had exhausted his usefulness.
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Pet Sematary II
The “sematary” is up to its old zombie-raising tricks again. This time, the protagonists are Jeff Matthews, whose mother died in a Hollywood stage accident, and Drew Gilbert, a boy coping with an abusive stepfather.
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Poison Ivy
A seductive teen befriends an introverted high school student and schemes her way into the lives of her wealthy family.
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For Fun
Required to retire from his job as a utility man at a Peking Opera theater, Old Han is at loose ends, wandering the backstreets of Beijing looking for something to correct.
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Boxing Helena
A top surgeon is besotted with a beautiful woman who once rebuffed him. Unable to come to terms with life without her, he tries to convince her that they need each other. She has other ideas, but a horrific accident leaves her at his mercy.
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Høyere enn himmelen
Some people are always happy and wake up cheerful and excited to greet each new day. Mari is not one of them. Twelve years old and without friends, she looks forward to a long and boring summer with her family, until she unexpectedly meets the newly retired teacher, Miss Kjær.
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I Don’t Want to Talk About It
In an Argentine village in the 1930s, the willful Leonor discovers that her beloved daughter, Charlotte, has dwarfism. Attempting to let her have as normal a childhood as possible, Leonor never discusses Charlotte’s lack of stature, nor lets anyone else in the village ever mention it. As Charlotte grows up into a smart and self-possessed young woman, local eccentric Ludovico, who collects miniatures, becomes smitten with her.
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Family Matters
Jan thinks he is Swedish-Danish, but after his mother’s death he discovers he was adopted. As his world begins to fall apart, he decides to find his birth parents. The hunt leads him to Portugal – in a taxi – where more surprises await him.