天浴 (1998). -- Without Sympathy.

Xiu Xiu – “The Sent – down Girl” (1998) -- More "Hong Kong" Cinema?

In Mandarin / English subtitles:  Every once in a while one sees a film like this that jars a few memories, of which those on the Cultural Revolution as seen by PRC leadership maybe thirty five years later and with a ten – year past remembrance of “Tian An.”  The Cultural Revolution in PRC and other Mao times showed the leadership goals and style of The Great Helmsman who given what his internal policies were, what with his re – education programs and the like in the mainland countryside, had probably had it with people long before he assumed any political leadership whatsoever in his country.  One of the greatest

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influences of the reign of Chairman Mao had to do with sending any number of young people into the far mainland provinces from Bei jing and other, major PRC towns, even from provincial capitols; again to the far reaches of the countryside to carry out the edicts of revolutionary communist orthodoxy, ideological and practical communist reformation and re - education, proper work, auto – criticism and the like.  It is entirely possible the Chinese form of communism at this point in time, as personified in PRC party leadership at the time (Zhu Rong – ji, Li Peng, … ), and with the sort of typically despotic and thereby exemplary internal, sometimes violent, purges in the upper levels of its administration and intelligentsia, held that most forms of constructive utility as seen in ordinary economic terms, especially concerning individual people, were completely against the political goals of their revolutionary politics and Chinese communism; and further and bitterly against the perpetual revolution as producing what were supposed to be better communists and better people overall.

This outstanding 1998 Hollywood – style Chinese film depicts the young life of Xiu – xiu (Lu lu,) from Cheng du, a very large city that has a history as a capitol since medieval times, who is sent to the far provinces in the tide of internal exiles of the Cultural Revolution in the custody of Wen xiu (Lopsang) who husbands her through many trials, but cannot prevent the eventualities the young one faces as an urban city person who is sent to live in the far country and other provincial places, essentially on a cot in a tent.  The character played by Wen xiu is remarkable in that many such people, probably indeed, had at least met the old Bolsheviks, even Chairman Mao himself, and many knew him personally, and believed in Marxism – Leninism and its Chinese variant with all themselves.  Such people were many as Mao in his campaigns was accessible to people, and these politics as appealing to all Chinese were part of what enabled the communists to seize control of the country, presumably over foreign parties and their interests, in 1949.  The story is now familiar and old to many people, and to anyone among the many who've traveled to PRC since it officially opened for tourism in the 1970’s.  The film has the hard – hitting proportions of a Greek tragedy, and though people like me have not any idea how it did at home, it illustrates the self – destruction of the Cultural Revolution and the back – handed, if not mortal ways in which the Chinese administration treated people (while depending greatly upon PLA and other military resources), insiders and especially provincial outsiders more severely, all at the same time as building and re – enforcing party and other political affiliations.  This is part of the paradox of some orthodox Marxist systems and is illuminated best, perhaps in the recalling of “Caligula” – type themes and images that pervade this film, however tepid these are and apparently fundamentally gifted and enlightened the characters appear as depicted.  As the film progresses, the scenes become progressively more poignant as Wen xiu at one point travels ten li to gather fresh water for Xiu’s bath.  There is also a scene at a country medical clinic, if it can be called that, where Xiu is destroyed and Wen reacts in recognition of negligent treatment and so forth by attacking her assailants; these scenes are difficult to watch with respect to cinematic milieu and the atavistic character of those characters in contrast and opposition to Xiu and Wen.  It is surprising the censors under Deng Xiao – ping allowed the publication of this film as it is controversial and undermining in many ways to communism and Marxist ideas, apart from just the message it carries of the huge slap to Chinese society during the years of the Cultural Revolution and even for many years thereafter.  It is possible that due to the Asian financial crisis at the time and what happened with the Yuan and other currencies, the leadership of the PRC was forced to recognize, as to their merits the Paramount Leader and his associates at the time did, the limits and critically damaging and many, many incalculably destructive influences the Cultural Revolution and other very elaborate internal aims of the PRC at the time had on people’s lives everywhere; especially on those Chinese who were around, knew of it and even read up on it at the time while overseas.  Everyone needs view this piece or at least get to know its story or one like it.