Qiu Ju da guan si (1992)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

Yimou Zhang

Writers:

Yuan Bin Chen (writer of the the novella on which the film is based, "The Wan Family's Lawsuit")
Heng Liu (writer)

Release Date:

16 April 1993 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Plot:

A pregnant peasant woman seeks redress from the Chinese bureaucracy after the village chief kicks her husband in the groin in this comedy of justice...

Plot Keywords:

Bureaucracy | Rural Area | Pregnant Woman | Forgiveness | Determination

Awards:

12 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Li Gong	...	Qiu Ju
Peiqi Liu	...	Wan Qinglai, chili farmer
Liuchun Yang	...	Meizi, Qinglai's sister
Kesheng Lei	...	Wang Shantang, village chief
Zhijun Ge	...	Officer Li
Wanqing Zhu
Luowen Cui
Huiqin Yang
Jianfa Wang
Zi Lin
Jun Ye

Also Known As:

Qiu Ju Goes to Court
The Story of Qiu Ju

Runtime:

Spain:100 min | UK:100 min | USA:101 min (video version)

Country:

China | Hong Kong

Language:

Mandarin

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:L | Singapore:PG | Australia:PG | Argentina:13 | Chile:14 | Peru:14 | Spain:T | Sweden:Btl | USA:PG

Company:

Sil-Metropole Organisation

Quotes:

Lawyer Wu: [subtitles] Qiu Ju, in civil and administrative lawsuits, the defendants aren't necessarily bad people.
Qiu Ju: Do good people sue each other?
Lawyer Wu: Of course!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Yi ge dou bu neng shao (1999)

Realistic portrayal of China life as Qix Ju fights bureaucracy.

Most Chinese movies are about victims of the culture or political system or how beautiful you men and women are kept apart or forced together by forces outside their control. This movie is completely different. It is a simple story about the ordinary Chinese people you can meet on the street and in their homes today and their ordinary lives. It is an amazingly accurate portrayal, unlike anything I have seen before. I only spent 3 weeks in China, but this movie brought back the feel of China, its people, and organizations.

Qxi Ju wants an apology from the Chief of the commune for kicking her husband in the groin. This is a story about her travels from the commune to the big city to try to get action from various bureaucracies. Although she is treated kindly and with much respect by the bureaucrats, she never gets exactly what she wants. It is fun to watch naive country girl Qxi Ju quickly learn about master doing things in the big city.

For me, the plot in this movie is secondary. It is each of the simple scenes that make this movie wonderful: The doctor's office is heated by a wood stove and the doctor chops the wood and feeds the fire. Qxi Ju's sister gives here a ride to town on the back of her bicycle on a snow covered unpaved road. They use dried chili peppers to trade for money to get a ride to the next town. Qxi Ju negotiates for the price of each thing she buys. The scenes all seem so realistic and beautifully photographed.

Yimou Zhang also made "Raise the Red Lantern" which gets higher praise, but that movie is about a world that is harder for me to relate to. This movie is like real life and real people and China today.