Shanghai Dreams

While flicking through some random TV channels i stumbled onto Shanghai Dreams. The main character Qinq Hong's yearning for freedom from her father is expressed by Red High Heels (made me think of Wizard of Oz) The lightness of touch at the beginning seeks to help absorb the viewer into the Story. The Director works well in forcing us to empathise with an initially ogre like father, the frustrations of being sold a lie are all too obvious. I did feel that Qinq's best friend could have been given more time, also the Wrist Cutting scene lacked impact and realism, Back on her Sewing Machine sitting bolt upright?

I would also agree about confusion at the end, who was executed? was it the Prisoners or the Family

The reviews calling this film boring and unrealistic show the grip Hollywood has on cinema audiences. One of the best features about non Hollywood cinema, particularly Asian cinema, is a fearless adherence to telling a story without a fairytale ending or some heartwarming relief. Shanghai Dreams explores a number of themes, such as adolescent rebellion, sexual liberation in 80s China and parental wishes and techniques. It's an epic and absorbing tale told using realistic and often bleak cinematography, in a hilly Chinese inland countryside that seems to be forever beset by fogs and rain. Although the near 2 hour length means it is exhaustingly bleak and leaves one emotionally drained by the end.

Shanghai Dreams is a slow, insightful drama set in the 1980s in Guiyangg, a town in China's Guizhou province. During the Chinese Cultural Revolution, efforts to create a 'third line of defence' against the Soviet Union led to an influx of migrants to inland settlements. Guiyang was one such destination, but the town has since grown dilapidated and its people despondent. The opening scene introduces the central character, Qinghong, engaged in a group session of callisthenics, a façade of harmony that belies her unhappy existence and the fractured, disillusioned society that she inhabits.

Qinghong's domineering father makes her life a misery. Li Bin, young factory worker seeks Qinghong's affections, but is thwarted at every turn by her father, who is mistrustful of this locally-born suitor. The tragic consequences that ensue from the suppression of this relationship are especially troubling in that they appear to vindicate the father's negative view of country folk – that they are not to be trusted. It is unfortunate that the film focuses almost exclusively on the lives of the city folk who have moved to Guiyang and gives short shrift to the country folk living there.

The quiet rebellion of Qinghong and her friend Xiao Zhen is handled more effectively. The duo escapes the clutches of their parents and head to a party with other rebellious teenagers. The party is a slightly surreal affair, combining Westernised clothing (flares and the like), Boney M songs and some memorable disco moves. The conflicts that divide the superficially harmonious town are again apparent when the party is violently interrupted by workers from a neighbouring factory.

As the film progresses it becomes increasingly clear why Qinghong's father is desperate to keep his daughter on a tight leash. His family moved to Guiyang some ten years previously, enthusiastically backing the government's plan to strengthen the interior of China. But the dream of a successful new life in these new surrounds has come to nothing: the town is moribund and there are few opportunities for young people. The Communist Party is present only as a faint babbling on TV and radio. Qinghong's father desperately wants to move back to Shanghai, and therefore also wants to keep his daughter from becoming attached to the country folk who live in Guiyang, including Li Bin. Qinghong's parents sacrificed their happiness to embrace an ultimately hollow dream and are now sacrificing their daughter's happiness to sustain their dream of escaping back to a better life.

The malaise in the town of Guiyang is reinforced by the visual style of director Wang Xiaoshuai. Until the very end of Shanghai Dreams we see little of the countryside; the drama unfolds largely within the confines of the town and the repetition of scenery and camera angles makes for a stifling, claustrophobic atmosphere. Throughout the film, Xiaoshuai deploys unusual camera angles to considerable effect, particularly when filming the distress of the long-delayed encounter between Qinghong and her would-be boyfriend.

The enigmatic ending to Shanghai Dreams will likely cause confusion; I for one cannot fully fathom the meaning of the final scene. However, although this is not an altogether satisfactory note on which to end the film, this is still one of the finest Chinese films that I have seen to date.

In good company such as "Broken Flowers" which won the "Grand prix" at Cannes this year, "Shanghai dreams" brought home the "Prix du jury" which it well deserves. The movie has little to do with Shanghai except as a backdrop. The story takes place in Guiyang in the province of Guizhou in the '80s.

The centre character of the movie, Qinghong (the Chinese title of the movie), is a bright, sensitive and sensible teenage girl who moved with her family from modernised coastal Shanghai to the more backwards interior 10 year ago. Her father was initially happy to be a worker participating in the strategic scheme to form a "third line of defence" in the event of war against the Soviet Union, but soon started to blame her mother for persuading him into this folly. He became bitterer every day as Shanghai prospered and longed to return at the first available opportunity which, unfortunately, seemed elusive.

This historical background adds another dimension to the familiar and universal story of general gap and family strife. Added to this is social and class conflict, when Qinghong develops a romantic attachment to a young local factory worker. There are also subplots that give the audience insightful glimpses, through various well-depicted character, into the life of the industrial-rural community.

The movie starts at a characteristically slow pace, but picks up momentum towards the end with a tinge of a suspense thriller (just a tinge though). It has a solid ensemble cast, mesmerising photography of the bleak but character-rich landscape and great direction. Thoughtful attention to details is very evident in, for example, some of the simple scene of family dinner. There are also crisp montages (particularly towards the end) that tell the story in a remarkably efficient and interesting way.

"Shanghai dreams" is one of those movies that starts feeling a bit slow but gets more and more engrossing once you get into it. You come out with a feeling that your experience has been enriched. It's a movie that you would want to talk about afterwards.

the story takes place in inland china in the 70's. it shows the life of a middle class family relocated to the inland factory by the communist party. these people who were originally from shanghai, consider life in the mountainous town to be futureless for themselves and their children. the father in particular takes out some of his frustration on his daughter, who is just blooming and is in love with a young man.

this movie works on several levels. it shows the conflict between the parents and the young woman, it shows the secret life of her social age, it discuss's the cultural revolution (the kids dance to western music) happening in china about that time as contrasted to the staid and solid existence of a factory worker. the movie does critique the communist government, but in an elliptical manner, since i guess it does have to pass the censors in china. but i think that works to it's credit.

this movie shows a complete and very accurate view of china in this time period. the houses, the kitchen, the school, the way they dress and their aspirations, the attitude of the parents and the children, it is all spot on. my only negative would be that the storyline for the young girl is somewhat overly dramatic. it is as if the director started by focusing on her and then shifts to a more general broad view of life. i especially enjoyed the acting of the father and overall i thought it was very realistic and well shot.

i highly recommend this movie.