CAST: Wei Zhilin, Cheng Taisheng, Lui Shikai, Li Wanquan.

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Here are two cut and paste reviews about the movie.

Twelve-year-old Wang Shouxian lives in a remote and impoverished village in the northwest of China. One day a film crew arrives in the village. They need a local boy to play a role in the film. Wang is dying to be chosen, but because of his poor performance at school, the headmaster refuses to recommend him for the role. After a few twists and turns, he gets the role. According to the script the boy lives in the city, but desperately misses his village and decides to return. Wang insists that this cannot be true, as all the villagers he knows would want to live in the city. He even gathers a petition from the locals and presents it to the assistant director. When the scene is shot, he cannot bring himself to say the lines, which contradict what he knows for truth. A beautiful story of determination and grit.


2nd Review:

The life of Wang Shouxian, a 12-year-old boy who lives in a faraway village in north-western China, is totally disrupted one “high-sky“ summer with the arrival of a film team, which is looking for a boy to play a main character named Xingxing. Shouxian, who aspires to be an actor, rubs hot pepper into his eyes in order to cry during his screen test. The trick moves the whole film crew. But the headmaster of his school won’t agree to let him perform in the film, because he is “not a good student“ and can’t recite his lessons. Another boy, Luan Liwei, who studies well, gets the chance to play Xingxing. Shouxian’s pal Xiao Liuzi is angry about this unfairness and deliberately lets loose the cow belonging to Luan Liwei’s family, which forces Liwei to go out to find it during the night. As a result, Shouxian is given the lead role. But Shouxian presents another challenge to the film team. He questions a part of the story in which Xingxing decides to stay in his village rather than go back to the city, and he gets Xiao Liuzi to back him up. He refuses to get his lines right during shooting, which makes Daliu quite embarrassed. Shooting on that scene is abandoned and the team moves on to other locations. Shouxian, feeling lost, spots the light-measuring equipment in the yard. He puts it near his heart and goes to find the film crew. “Peaceful observance is the style of this film. The children and teachers in this far-away village moved me. They represent a natural existence, simple and sincere. Sunflowers always grow towards the sun. What I care for is the ‘unseen’. It is far and high, overlooking everything that breathes on earth.“ Li Jixian

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The above synopsis/reviews sum up the film pretty well. I wouldn't buy this film on DVD but it held my interest throughout. Many audiences would find it slow and I'm surprised it was shown at the 26th International Children's Film Festival. I think most children would find the movie rather dull.

My rating 7/10 and more likely to go higher than lower on a second viewing. I watched it on TV.

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