Father (2000 film)
Father | |
---|---|
Hanyu Pinyin | Yuānjiā Fùzǐ |
Directed by | Wang Shuo |
Written by | Feng Xiaogang Wang Shuo Novel: Wang Shuo |
Produced by | Han Sanping Wang Weijing |
Starring | Feng Xiaogang Hu Xiaopei Xu Fan Qin Yan Wang Weining |
Cinematography | Yang Xiaoxiong |
Edited by | Zhou Ying |
Music by | Shi Wanchun |
Release date |
|
Running time | 96 minutes |
Country | China |
Language | Mandarin |
Father (
The film stars director Feng Xiaogang, who also helped adapt Wang's novel for the screen.
Plot
Father documents the tumultuous relationship between a widowed father, Ma Lisheng, and his school-age son, Ma Che. Though he works as a low-level party functionary during the day, he finds his greatest challenges in the raising of a son on his own. Alternating between trying to bond with his son (even getting drunk with him), and verbally accosting him, Ma is at a loss. One day the son decides that the best way for his father to stop harassing him, will be to find him a new wife, which he finds in the form of the mother of a school friend, Qing Huaiyuan.
Cast
- Feng Xiaogang as Ma Lisheng, a widowed single father living in an old courtyard home with his son, Ma Che. A popular actor and director, Feng Xiaogang also co-wrote the film and is Wang's business partner in the production company, Beijing Good Dreams, which partially produced Father.[1]
- Hu Xiaopei as Ma Che, Ma Lisheng's son.
- Xu Fan as Qi Huaiyuan, the mother of one of Ma Che's school friends.
- Qin Yan as Xia Jingping.
- Wang Weining as Xia Qing.
- Ye Qing as Tie Jun, Qi Huaiyuan's daughter.
Reception
Never officially released in China, Father was not screened in the west until four years after its completion in February 1996.
Many critics, however, gave only measured praise. Derek Elley of Variety wrote that the film's two-part structure (the drama of the father-son relationship versus the broader comedy of the romance between Ma Lingyuan and Qi Huaiyuan) left the film a "little uneven in tone...," ultimately "los[ing] its focus in the final reels."[1]
References
- ^ a b c Elley, Derek (2000-08-15). "Father Review". Variety. Retrieved 2008-05-24.
- ^ a b "Award for banned Chinese film". BBC News. 2000-08-13. Retrieved 2008-05-23.