Another decades-spanning epic from Mainland China about the effects of the Communist Movement (the Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution) on the indigenous Little Man. This one is less political and more soap operatic than either Farewell My Concubine or The Blue Kite, and that's to its advantage as an export item. (It did not prevent it, even so, from earning the banned-in-China badge of honor.) The performances of Ge You and Gong Li, turning themselves inside out, inflate the epic dimensions to somewhere in the ballpark of D.W. Griffith; and director Zhang Yimou offers up plenty of artful color and composition as a stiff line of defense against the inherent vulgarity: one great sight (and sound), in particular, of Communist foot soldiers advancing at top speed over a field of snow; and several beautiful, screen-filling shots of shadow puppets. (1994) — Duncan Shepherd
This movie is not currently in theaters.