Customer Reviews

Sunflower

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The film speaks to universal emotions, those of family, conflict between generations, parental yearnings, aging, a sense of a familiar world vanishing into modernity. This film captures all of that, and needs little translating. I know I felt moved, and that doesn't happen easily.

Cinematically it's a remarkable triumph. The director uses color themes in a vivid and coherent way, one I can only compare to that of French director Jean Renoir. The settings capture the old courtyards of Beijing at a time when they're rapidly going under demolition, something the film uses. The story covers a tumultuous period but keeps it coherent, breaking it in three episodes: 1976, a time of political and real earthquakes; 1987, as a new Chinese way of life is emerging; 1999, in a modern Beijing that seems so unfamiliar to those who experienced the older period -- including, to some extent, this film's audience.

The director has also elicited marvelous performances from a talented cast, notably Joan Chen and Haiying Sun as mother and father, who mature -- visually and emotionally -- convincingly. He also got a strong performance out of the actors playing the son at ages 9, 19 and 32. That, and an evocative musical score, makes for an emotional experience. The viewer will come to care for these people.

The "making of" extra feature is sparse but has some good insights by the director and producer. The scenes where the director -- who lived through the 1970s -- is showing his modern child actors how to play in the old manner, is something for the film students to admire.

It's a pity this film didn't have a wider theater release, but the DVD is now on hand and deserves a wide audience.

In China, there still are deep wounds from the Cultural Revolution that turned entire families topsy turvy. This was the turbulent era in the final years of Mao's life when family and friends were pushed to denounce each other and many of China's brightest and best were tortured and exiled into the countryside to perform manual labor. As families have tried to reassemble themselves in the decades since that violence, however, even traditional ideas about "home" are vanishing.

I know from my own work as a journalist reporting from Asia that, in the absence of other deeper religious practices, the basic commitment to family remains a tap root of spiritual values. But even this tap root winds up severed in these waves of cultural and social change.

That's the context of "Sunflower," a bittersweet drama that runs just over two hours. It's a gorgeously photographed and deeply engaging story starting with the drama of a plucky little boy who has been running wild in the streets of his traditional maze-like neighborhood -- until his stern father suddenly reappears. The boy doesn't realize that his father, once a great artist, has had his dreams dashed by a long exile in the Cultural Revolution. He can't understand why his father's love for him is expressed in an obsessive desire for the little boy to develop his artistic talents.

The first half of the film is this kind of compelling, wonderfully written family drama. Then, director Zhang Yang suddenly jumps forward so that we see this boy as a young man -- falling in love with a beautiful Chinese ice skater. If your heart isn't made of stone, you'll quickly soften to this part of the story, again beautifully photographed -- as we see the young skater through the eyes of this budding artist.

The film's final scenes take us even further into the saga of this scarred, yet spiritually resilient family. I won't spoil the end, but you'll find yourself -- just as I am doing here -- urging friends to see "Sunflower."

I saw this beautiful film on cable TV last night and was blown over by its deeply felt emotional core and seamless artistry. This is a psychologically dense story told through the simplest, most direct means. Breathtaking. The actors are something to behold: their performances are fresh, truly convincing. I finally realized, to my shame, how beautiful and talented Joan Chen is. Too bad the DVD is no longer available. I would love to have it in my collection.

During the 70s, at age 9, Xiangyang`s father, an artistic painter, has entered into his life after serving time in a labor camp. However, brutal treatment (stomping on his hands) he received in the camp destroyed his ability to ever paint again. The young boy rebels authority by his father as he just wants to be a kid like the others. Father has dreams of him becoming a painter and forcefully engages the young boy into lessons. Discovering one way to get out of painting, Xiangyang makes attempts to ruin his painting hand.

The family endures an earthquake, and mother is all about making a home for her family, attempting to be on the list for an apartment that means resorting to a divorce until they get the apartment. The story jumps to 1987 when Xiangyang meets a beautiful girl and paints her while she skates on the ice. The relationship blooms, as he saves money to leave for Guangzhou with the girl and a friend, but again, father has control over him and forces him to stay to become the painter he never got to be.

As Xiangyang becomes a young man in love, the conflict with his father continues as the parents go as far as insisting when Xiangyang and his, presumably, wife must have a child.

This is a wonderful compassionate film on father and son relationships, a universal theme, when the family imposes the best for their child; and especially, when a parent lives their dream through their child at the price of natural tension, conflict and stress that comes with that. But, it is a film about love; love for your family!

The movie depicts the cultural changes in Beijing, changes in a family's life over thirty years. The 70s scenes were shot in alleys, courtyards, unique housing and here is a nostalgic look at the children, simply at play. The next scenes jumps to 1999 and we see how different society has changed. This is a wonderful two hour family drama, saga, and a relationship with conflict.

Don't miss the Special Features, discussion about how director Zhang Yang hopes people can come away with something from their own lives, some pieces of their own memories. You will also learn how the title relates to the film's theme. This is a two hour family saga filled with tense conflict and emotions. And for another Zhang Yang directed film with emotional family issues, see the wonderful and humorous Shower ......Rizzo

Set in Mao`s China, Zhang Yang`s "Sunflower" is a tender and touching family drama that spans five decades, from 1967 to 2000. Xiangyang is only a baby when his father, Gengnian, an aspiring artist, is thrown into a "re-education camp" on a trumped-up charge of disloyalty to the state. When Gengnian is finally released and sent back to his family, Xiangyang is a nine-year-old boy with no memory of his dad and no interest in following in the old man's footsteps as a painter. This sets up an ongoing conflict between father and son that extends well into Xiangyang's early adulthood.

"Sunflower" is a subtle, thoughtful, deliberately paced look at just how much influence a parent can reasonably be expected to have over the life of a child, as Xiangyang comes to realize that until he can get out from under the thumb of his father, he has no real hope of ever becoming a fully independent man in his own right. For Gengnian, it's a matter of learning that he can't simply transfer all the thwarted and unfulfilled dreams he once had for his own life onto his son without eventually robbing the young man of his independence and breaking his spirit.

The screenplay is scrupulously fair to all parties as it astutely explores the universal truths of filial relationships - with unmannered performances and self-effacing direction adding greatly to the naturalism of the piece.