Based on the experience of a friend who had difficulty readjusting to China after his marriage failed in the U.S., Wang Xiaoshuai's new film Drifters shows the conflict between Chinese traditions and the desire of its youth for a better way of life. Er Di, the film's Mandarin title, means "younger brother," and Hong Yunsheng (Duan Long) is a younger brother by birth and by social class. Like many of his generation, he risked his life to stowaway on an overcrowded boat headed to the U.S. in search of that indefinable something called the American Dream.
As the film opens, Er Di returns home to the coastal city of Fujian after being deported from America at the instigation of his in-laws when they learned that he had fathered a son with the boss's daughter. He spends his time hanging around aimlessly, much to the dismay of his parents. His only companion is Xiao Nu (Shu Yan), an actress from a travelling Shanghai opera troupe, but their relationship lacks spark. Gradually his past begins to catch up with him.
The first half-hour moves at a snail's pace, but the film finds its rhythm when Er Di learns that his son Fusheng, now five, has been brought back to Fujian by his grandfather. Prodded by his elder brother and sister-in-law he is determined to see the boy in spite of the grandfather's objections, but has to overcome not only the restrictions of American law, but differences in social status. When Er Di discovers that he has strong parental feelings, the film shifts from being a social commentary to a family drama and sets in motion a chain of events that leads to a moving conclusion.
Known as one of the most talented directors of China's `Sixth Generation" of filmmakers, Wang Xiaoshuai's film is a poetic character study reminiscent of Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao-hsien. With little dialogue and the camera held at a distance, the story unfolds slowly, told mainly through facial expressions, nuances, gestures, and body language. Though I would have preferred more depth to the characters, Drifters is an involving film about a generation of uprooted Chinese whose government is unable to see the extent of their despair, holding out vague promises, heard on television during the film, that China's entry into the WTO will bring a better life.
As the film opens, Er Di returns home to the coastal city of Fujian after being deported from America at the instigation of his in-laws when they learned that he had fathered a son with the boss's daughter. He spends his time hanging around aimlessly, much to the dismay of his parents. His only companion is Xiao Nu (Shu Yan), an actress from a travelling Shanghai opera troupe, but their relationship lacks spark. Gradually his past begins to catch up with him.
The first half-hour moves at a snail's pace, but the film finds its rhythm when Er Di learns that his son Fusheng, now five, has been brought back to Fujian by his grandfather. Prodded by his elder brother and sister-in-law he is determined to see the boy in spite of the grandfather's objections, but has to overcome not only the restrictions of American law, but differences in social status. When Er Di discovers that he has strong parental feelings, the film shifts from being a social commentary to a family drama and sets in motion a chain of events that leads to a moving conclusion.
Known as one of the most talented directors of China's `Sixth Generation" of filmmakers, Wang Xiaoshuai's film is a poetic character study reminiscent of Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao-hsien. With little dialogue and the camera held at a distance, the story unfolds slowly, told mainly through facial expressions, nuances, gestures, and body language. Though I would have preferred more depth to the characters, Drifters is an involving film about a generation of uprooted Chinese whose government is unable to see the extent of their despair, holding out vague promises, heard on television during the film, that China's entry into the WTO will bring a better life.