Am I Missing Something?

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

Directed by Zhang Yimou as in many of his films, stars Gong Li in the title role. This film adaption of Chen Yuanbin's novella The Wan Family's Lawsuit tells the story of a peasant woman, Qiu Ju (Gong Li), 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 around looking for a apology. When apology isn't given, she goes to the nearby town to find the policemen to press charges, and later a big city to deal with its bureaucrats to try to find justice for her husband. Her lack-back husband, on the other hand is just happier to just move on, and let bygones be bygones, but for Qiu Ju, it becomes a never ending cycle dealing with lawyers, judges, and courts. It's a humorous fable of justice that shows how justice is distributed varies between classes. Gong Li is wonderful as Qiu Ju, a tenacious farmer determined to right a wrong done to her husband. If watching this film with hopes of seeing Gong Li's ravishing beauty, you will be disappointed. She is blandly dressed and pregnant through most of the film. Defying all stereotypes of the passive Chinese woman, she remains unbowed by the frustrations of bureaucracy in her quixotic search for dignity. In this case, "The Story of Qiu Ju" shows how the legal authorities find money as a just compensation, whereas Qiu Ju finds an apology more appropriate. The movie has a Frank Capra, Mr. Smith goes to Washington feel to it, with a simple-minded person go to the government looking for change. Also the camera work whose influence comes directly from the Italian Nero Realism films such as Francis Truffaunt's 'the 400 Blows' as the ending nearly mimics that ending shot using the freeze frame and close up. The story feels like Bicycle Thieves due to it's well narrated story about the modern day parable that explores the gray area between seeking justice and exacting revenge is chilling. It is a cautionary tale as well since it shows that justice is not an absolute. Justice can be a somewhat intangible concept - something that needs to be defined by the human experience. One person's injustice can be another person's justice. The movie intent to expose the daunting bureaucratic Chinese government, with it's use of comedy, drama, and political satire. Although the film takes place in China, there is a sense that it could be just about anywhere in the world since the struggles contained within are so universal in nature. The snakelike pathways of the bureaucracy to an unexpected outcome is a universal problem that is as much in evidence in a Democracy as well as Communist. The resulting film, as an exercise in frustration, is as essential an addition to the "literature" of the law as Dickens' Bleak House or Trollope's Orley Farm, and should be on the curriculum of every law school. The movie is a bit of a frustration to get through as well. The faults of the film are that the movie is hard to get through in one sitting, there are long periods of non-talking, and nothing going on screen, and the never ending tragic results of Qiu Ju not getting her way. The slow-paced temp of the film really hurt the film. The kick is never shown, but the entire film is based around it. I would love to see the action being case, but having the kick not show add another layer of mystery. The humor is dry, but it's funny that one point that the director seems eager to make is that the people are not hungry in China. Nearly ever other scene shows people eating. The film lacks any of the visually stunning as his other film 'The Road Home', but it's does what it can with the shots, they have. The rural scenes and settings are real. The village, journeys and settings are all real China, not a Hollywood set. The background actors are incredibly real people who don't work for screen actors guild. It's feel like Communist China. While the film might be for all audiences, it's worth checking out

Fighting bureaucracy at any time and in any place is a tremendously frustrating experience. No disrespect intended, but how much more frustrating it must be in a Communist country! "The Story Of Qiu Ju" is the story of a woman's fight against the Communist bureaucracy as she struggles to get justice for her husband, Qinglai. Qinglai got into a dispute with a local village chief, and was kicked in the groin as a result. Qiu Lu wants an apology from the chief, because she's afraid her husband won't be able to father children after the kick. She tries the official mediation route, going from village to district to city officials and gets turned down at every juncture. Finally, she files a lawsuit, with some ultimately unexpected (and undesired) results.For the most part, the movie seems to be lighthearted, although to be honest comedy seems to lose something when it's subtitled. You get the funny lines as you read them, but it's just not the same. Given that this was made in Communist China, I have to assume that the government had some censorship role in it, and I was surprised at the amount of fun that was poked at the system throughout, but I also thought I detected something of a warning in how this ended - don't take things too far because they could get out of hand.There's a realistic feel to the depictions of village life in this, and the interconnectedness of the lives of the people in the village also comes through clearly. Even in the midst of the dispute, the village bonds aren't broken. Still, something was missing here - maybe the subtitled comedy; maybe what I thought (having visited China) was the too beneficent view of the local police. The first third of the movie I found quite dull, and while it picked up from then on, it still wasn't as much fun as some Chinese movies I've seen. In the end, I'd rate this as a 4/10

The movie is a comedy, and a comedy only. Should the content go a bit deeper, it will surely be banned. In the communist system (under which I was raised), the "face" (reputation), not the truth, is supremely important. If the ruling government (or person) is portrayed by a story in any unfavorable light, the movie will simply not meet any audience except the censor review board.In this movie, only a village cadre is selected as the bad guy, who kicked someone's private part. Then Qiu Ju, the victim's wife, went on a pilgrimage to seek justice for her husband. What if this bad guy is the mayor of a major City or higher? In that case, Qiu Ju may very likely get murdered and disappear into thin air. One person's life in China is not viewed precious like in the West. Power-play removes anyone in the way: even LIU Shao-qi, the 2nd-man in power before the Cultural Revolution of 1966, was gotten rid of because he endangered Mao's position (like to see a movie on that story, but it's guaranteed banned material in China).Qiu Ju is admirable because she is earnest and persistent. Getting to one level without seeing justice done, she moves on. For the majority of the people in China, they would have given up. If this spirit gets into everybody in China, we will see a revolution. The student's movement in Beijing (1989) was one of such, and the result: blood shedding. Whole country learned from the incident to shut up. Where is Qiu Ju's persistence then? When will the freedom of speech (like what we enjoy at this forum) be granted in China? When will the Internet be truly open to the average Qiu Ju in China?So to get this movie approved and circulated, the bad guy in this movie got what he deserved: put in prison, though Qiu Ju only demanded an apology from the Village-head. She would hate to find the village-head tortured in prison (Qiu Ju may not know it, but oh yes, there is severe torture in China's prisons all over the country) or even sent to labor camp where one would wither away. The truth behind this movie is: China's bureaucrats never listen to people's voice. And why would they? They are appointed at high levels, not elected. If you cannot have free speech publicly, how can you do anything according to conscience publicly?Enjoy Qiu Ju's story and its colorful and rich portrayal of life in China, but don't follow her spirit if you are in China: you could get... (oh… help... help me... someone is pulling my plug... !!!)

The story is of a poor, uneducated yet stubborn farmwoman seeking justice from a highly bureaucratic government (for a seemingly minor injustice), and the nightmarish journey she must endure to achieve it. Her numerous trips to the city and meetings with various officials result in a surprise ending. The operative lesson from this movie: Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it.Having visited the Chinese country outside Tianjin and Beijing in 1999, this movie is the most realistic I have ever seen. This film serves as a geniune window into what everyday life is like in rural and urban China. The humorous scene of the shy young couple applying for the marraige license seems almost too real, as if they had a Candid Camera on them. I am most curious how the makers of this film were able to plop one of the most famous (and most beautiful) stars of mainland China in the middle of the many on-location scenes and not have anyone recognize her?? (Although in a couple of scenes it looks like people might have). Doubtless her unflattering costume emphasizing her pregnancy helped disguise her for most of the movie. Also note the distant camera shots, which enables the camera to be hidden and inconspicuous and also not draw attention to Gong Li. Either that or the makers must have used the most extras ever hired for a movie. I would like to find out more about the methods used to make this film. In any case, the results are another delightful and glorious piece from Zhang Yimou.