This Happy Life
Duration: 00:59:00 An atmospheric film about Zhengzhou, China’s busiest train station, and two of it its employees – Mr. Fu and Mr. Liu. ‘People with children, climb through the windows’ is not an unusual instruction from Zhengzhou station staff, especially on the eve of Chinese New Year when 1.2 mi...
| Other Authors: | |
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| Institution: | Open Society Archives at Central European University |
| Language: | Mandarin Chinese |
| Published: |
Jiang, Yue ; Frith, Mark
2002
China |
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10891/osa:47b78dfa-e4f7-42ba-b053-58d41db1169e |
| Summary: | Duration: 00:59:00
An atmospheric film about Zhengzhou, China’s busiest train station, and two of it its employees – Mr. Fu and Mr. Liu. ‘People with children, climb through the windows’ is not an unusual instruction from Zhengzhou station staff, especially on the eve of Chinese New Year when 1.2 million people are all trying to get home. Mr. Fu is Party Secretary and responsible for the political education of the station staff, and Mr. Liu, Head of Passenger Affairs. Both of them are filmed working at this hectic station and at home with their families. Film-maker Jiang Yue goes deep into the souls of these two men, and reveals their inner lives. Mr. Fu confesses to being in an unhappy marriage and still mourns for his first wife, the mother of his child, who died during an abortion. He is very upset when his darling son leaves home to join the army. Mr. Fu’s colleague Mr. Liu also has problems but of a different nature. The financial pressures after buying a new luxury home weigh heavily on him; he and his wife are facing redundancy, and school fees for their child are unexpectedly expensive. This film offers an eye-opening glimpse of life in contemporary China through the everyday course of events at Zhengzhou station, where giving away a found baby to a fruit vendor and the murder of a passenger by a psychopath are just part of the daily routine. |
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| Published: | 2002 |