Seventeen Years (film)
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| Seventeen Years | |
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| Directed by | Zhang Yuan |
| Produced by | Zhang Yuan Willy Tsao Zhang Peimin |
| Written by | Ning Dai Yu Hua Zhu Wen |
| Starring | Li Jun Li Bingbing Liu Lin |
| Music by | Zhao Jiping |
| Cinematography | Zhang Xigui |
| Editing by | Jacopo Quadri Zhang Yuan |
| Distributed by | Worldwide Sales: Celluloid Dreams United States: Kino International (DVD) |
| Release date(s) | Venice: September 1999 Hong Kong: May 11, 2000 |
| Running time | 90 min. |
| Language | Mandarin Chinese |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
| Chinese name | |
| Simplified Chinese: | 过年回家 |
| Traditional Chinese: | 過年回家 |
| Pinyin: | guò nián huí jiā |
Seventeen Years (or New Year Homecoming in the native Chinese) is a 1999 Chinese film directed by Zhang Yuan and starring Li Bingbing in her feature film debut. Seventeen Years was screened at several international film festivals where it garnered numerous accolades, including the Director's Award at the 56th Venice Film Festival.
The film is co-produced by Keetman Limited (China) and Fabrica (Italy), as presented by Keetman and the Xi'an Film Studio. It premiered concurrently with Zhang Yuan's documentary feature, Crazy English in the 1999 Locarno International Film Festival.[1]
Seventeen Years is seen, at least by some critics, as Zhang Yuan's move away from his "Bad Boy" image, an image that was cultivated after run-ins with Chinese authorities with his previous films, Beijing Bastards, and the homosexual-themed East Palace, West Palace.[1][2]
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[edit] Cast
- Li Jun as Tao Xiaolan, a young woman whose accidental murder of her step-sister leads to a seventeen year prison sentence.
- Li Bingbing as Chen Jie, a prison guard who takes pity on Xiaoqin and helps her find her parents.
- Liu Lin as Yu Xiaoqin, Xiaolan's step-sister.
- Liang Song as Father
- Le Yeping as Mother
[edit] Plot
The film takes place in and around the city of Tianjin, in northeastern China. Two divorced singles (Liang Song and Le Yeping), marry, each bringing a daughter into their new home. Xiaolan (Li Jun), short haired is fiercely independent and wishes to work in a factory after she graduates from high school. Her step-sister, Xiaoqin (Liu Lin), is more intellectual, and wishes to enter a university. After a dispute over a mere 5 yuan that Xiaoqin accuses Xiaolan of stealing, Xiaolan hits her step-sister over the head. To the surprise of everyone, Xiaoqin succumbs to the injury and dies and Xiaolan is led to jail.
The film then cuts seventeen years into the future. Xiaolan has been selected as one of the lucky inmates allowed a furlough during the New Year holiday. At the same time, a young prison guard, Chen Jie (Li Bingbing) is calling her mother to say that she will soon be returning home for the holiday. While waiting for the inmates to be picked up by their families, Chen Jie notices that soon only Xiaolan remains. In an act of charity, Chen Jie offers to help Xiaolan return home. Upon arriving at her old apartment, however, both women discover that the home has long since been torn down, and Xiaolan's parents moved to another part of the city. Chen Jie, however, is now determined that Xiaolan will spend the holiday with her family and the two set out in search of parents who may not want to see their only daughter...
[edit] Production
The idea for Seventeen Years is said to have emerged after Zhang Yuan watched a television program of a criminal's reunion with his family after many years in prison.[3] Realizing that every prisoner likely had an intricate story, Zhang began to research for a possible film by interviewing several inmates. From there, a screenplay was written by Zhang with the collaboration of the established writers Yu Hua and Zhu Wen and Zhang's wife, Ning Dai. As Zhang's "return to the fold," Seventeen Years did not suffer from the usual governmental intrusion. Indeed, it is reportedly the first Chinese film allowed to shoot within an active Chinese prison,[1][3] as well as Zhang's first film allowed to be screened in China.
Filmed primarily in Tianjin, China, Seventeen Years's post-production took place entirely in Italy with editing by Zhang and Jacobo Quadri (who would also work with Zhang on his film Little Red Flowers).[1]
[edit] Reception
[edit] Awards and nominations
- 56th Venice Film Festival, Italy, 1999
- Best Director — Zhang Yuan
- Gijon Film Festival, Spain, 1999
- Best Director — Zhang Yuan
- Singapore Film Festival, 2000
- Best Director — Zhang Yuan
- Best Actress (tied) — Liu Lin & Li Bingbing
- Fajr Film Festival, Iran 2001
- Crystal Simorgh for Best Screenplay
[edit] DVD release
Seventeen Years was released on Region 1 DVD in the United States on April 5, 2005 by Kino International. The DVD has an aspect ratio of 1.66:1 and features the original Mandarin dialogue with English subtitles.[4]
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b c d Elley, Derek (1999-09-13). Seventeen Years Review. Variety. Retrieved on 2007-09-09.
- ^ Deming, Mark. Seventeen Years > Overview. All Movie Guide. Retrieved on 2009-09-09.
- ^ a b Zhang Yuan's films. Zhang-yuanfilms.com. Retrieved on 2007-09-08.
- ^ Seventeen Years-Kino on Video. Retrieved on 2007-09-09.
[edit] External links
- Seventeen Years at the Internet Movie Database
- Seventeen Years at Allmovie
- Seventeen Years at Rotten Tomatoes
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