The Story of Qiu Ju

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Story of Qiu Ju
Directed by Zhang Yimou
Produced by Feng Yiting
Fung Kwok Ma
Written by Chen Yuanbin (novella)
Liu Heng
Starring Gong Li
Music by Zhao Jiping
Cinematography Chi Xiaoning
Lu Hongyi
Yu Xiaoquin
Editing by Du Yuan
Distributed by Sony Pictures Classics
Release date(s) Venice:
September 1992
United States:
April 16, 1993
Running time 110 min.
Language Mandarin
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

The Story of Qiu Ju (Chinese: 秋菊打官司; pinyin: Qiū Jú dǎ guān sī; literally "Qiu Ju goes to court") is a 1992 Chinese comedy-drama film. The film was directed by Zhang Yimou and, as in many of his films, stars Gong Li in the title role. The screenplay is an adaption of Chen Yuanbin's novella The Wan Family's Lawsuit.

The film tells the story of a peasant woman, Qiu Ju, who lives in a rural area of China. When her husband is kicked in the groin by the village head, Qiu Ju, despite her pregnancy, travels to a nearby town, and later a big city to deal with its bureaucrats and find justice.

The film was a hit at film festivals and won the Golden Lion award at the Venice Film Festival in 1992.

Contents

[edit] Plot

Qiu Ju is a peasant who lives in a small farming enclave with her husband Qinglai, his sister and their father. She is in the final trimester of her first pregnancy. One day while her husband is conversing to Wang Shantang, the head of the community, a miscommunication ensues. Qinglai's comment that Shantang "only breeds hens", was misconstrued to reflect on a perceived inability of the chieftain to produce a son (he has two or three daughters). The minor municipality leader is insulted by this inference and beats Qinglai, kicking him so severely in the groin that he must see a doctor and remain absent from his work.

Because of this injustice, Qiu Ju sets forth to extract an explanation from Wang Shantang, one in which the village head is unwilling to supply. Qiu Ju becomes determined to 'right' the 'wrong' and establishes contact with officials from the nearest small town. As the case is mediated and re-mediated (at her insistence) by the government bureaucracy, it is never resolved to Qiu Ju's satisfaction.

[edit] DVD release

The Story of Qiu Ju has been released several times on DVD. In the United States, the first release on Region 1 DVD was by Columbia/TriStar Studio on July 20, 2000.

More recently, the film was re-released by Sony Pictures Classics as part of their Zhang Yimou (which also included new versions of Ju Dou and Raise the Red Lantern) on March 28, 2006. Both versions include subtitles in English.

An older VHS cassette version of the film was also released in the United States by Sony Pictures on January 17, 1995.

[edit] Awards and nominations

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Urga		 Golden Lion winner
1992		 Succeeded by
Short Cuts tied with
Three Colors: Blue
v • d • e
Films directed by Zhang Yimou
Red Sorghum (1987) • Codename Cougar (1989) • Ju Dou (1990) • Raise the Red Lantern (1991) • The Story of Qiu Ju (1992) • To Live (1994) • Shanghai Triad (1995) • Keep Cool (1997) • The Road Home (1999) • Not One Less (1999) • Happy Times (2000) • Hero (2002) • House of Flying Daggers (2004) • Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles (2005) • Curse of the Golden Flower (2006)
v • d • e
Cinema of China
 This article related to Chinese film is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
 This 1990s comedy film-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.