Qiu Ju (Gong) is the wife of a spice farmer in rural China, a headstrong young woman who is heavily pregnant with her first child. When the village mayor takes offence at her husband�s comments about his lack of sons, he kicks him square in the place no man wishes to be kicked. Her husband unable to work and fearing internal injuries (as we always do with a good firm connection, it feels like something must have exploded down there), Qiu Ju decides to complain to the local authorities. They decide that compensation should be paid for lost work and an apology issued.
The mayor offers the couple the money, but is not so quick to apologise. Unfortunately, Qiu Ju is more concerned with the respect and politeness of verbal reconciliation than any money and so refuses to take the Yuan. Instead she sets out to lobby the next level in the convoluted Chinese legal system until she gets a proper apology.
At times gently comic (Qiu Ju�s sister-in-law is endearingly na�ve) and others quietly dramatic, Qiu Ju is a character you really root for, despite her almost self-destructive stubbornness in a quite trivial matter. Her sense of justice is admirable (even though her husband was kind of asking for it�). It�s also a sideswipe at China�s tangled communist administration and plays to the scenario of the country girl lost in the big city that Yimou would later revisit in Not One Less. Oh and Li Gong is as good as ever in the title role. |
