A three-hour film that though a little slow moving is so captivating a watch that no one will notice the time flying past.  Director Wang (11 FLOWERS) deals with the intimacy of 2 dysfunctional families in the setting of China’s one child nation. 

 The theme of the film is clearly guilt.  Guilt is piled upon guilt upon guilt and no character in the film is spared from this human fallacy.   The story deals with a married couple coming to terms with the untimely death of their young son in addition to the rapidly changing foundations of Chinese society. 

 The drama unfolds in a decade-spanning, highly personal, and ambitiously epic working the director’s ambitious 4-year project.  Wang paints a grand historical fresco about family and parenthood, the private and the political, and the process of mourning.  

There are powerful performances by Wang Jingchun and Yong Mei, winners, respectively, of the Best Actor and Best Actress Silver Bears at this year’s Berlinale.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbJi3YstBzE