In "King of the Children," the tale of a young man, exiled during the Cultural Revolution to Yunnan and chosen (despite his own minimal education) to teach a class of semi-literate peasant children who are accustomed to learning by memory only, (without intelligent understanding and assimilation) becomes a quiet but heartfelt portrait of the development of individual consciousness in a land suppressed by economic, cultural and social poverty
The teacher, of course, is finally dismissed for neglecting the official curriculum But Chen's recognition of his country's need to revitalize itself through changes which still allow for the spiritual traditions of pre-Communist China, is gloriously manifested in the final liberating, dreamlike shots of a forest in flames, dead wood being destroyed to free an ancient and beautiful landscape
Along with other young filmmakers, Chen is instrumental in the creation of a new, politically and artistically invigorating Chinese cinema, far removed from simplistic melodrama and martial arts escapism While he continually runs the risk of being marginalized, or even prevented from working, by pressures of censorship and bureaucracy, he has already proved himself a filmmaker of great imagination, intelligence, courage, and influence
The teacher, of course, is finally dismissed for neglecting the official curriculum But Chen's recognition of his country's need to revitalize itself through changes which still allow for the spiritual traditions of pre-Communist China, is gloriously manifested in the final liberating, dreamlike shots of a forest in flames, dead wood being destroyed to free an ancient and beautiful landscape
Along with other young filmmakers, Chen is instrumental in the creation of a new, politically and artistically invigorating Chinese cinema, far removed from simplistic melodrama and martial arts escapism While he continually runs the risk of being marginalized, or even prevented from working, by pressures of censorship and bureaucracy, he has already proved himself a filmmaker of great imagination, intelligence, courage, and influence