Cry Woman is a 2002 Chinese film

Cinema of China

The Chinese-language cinema has three distinct historical threads: Cinema of Hong Kong, Cinema of China, and Cinema of Taiwan. Since 1949 the cinema of mainland China has operated under restrictions imposed by the Communist Party of China's State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television and...

 directed by Liu Bingjian

Liu Bingjian

Liu Bingjian is a Chinese film director who emerged on the cinema scene in the late 1990s with his LGBT-themed film Men and Women.- Career:...

. It was Liu's third feature film and like his previous two films, Incense and Men and Women

Men and Women (1999 film)

Men and Women is a 1999 Chinese comedy-drama film directed by Liu Bingjian. The film was co-written by Cui Zi'en, one of the few openly gay writers in China. Cui also has a cameo-role in the film, as the host of an underground radio show....

, Cry Woman was not given permission to screen in China.

Cry Woman stars the Beijing Opera

Beijing opera

Peking opera or Beijing opera is a form of traditional Chinese theatre which combines music, vocal performance, mime, dance and acrobatics. It arose in the late 18th century and became fully developed and recognized by the mid-19th century. The form was extremely popular in the Qing Dynasty court...

 star Liao Qin in her first film role.

Despite being banned in China, the film was screened at several international venues, including the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival

Karlovy Vary International Film Festival

The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival is a film festival held annually in July in Karlovy Vary , Czech Republic. The Karlovy Vary Festival gained worldwide recognition over the past years and has become one of Europe's major film events....

 held in the Czech Republic and in the Un Certain Regard

Un Certain Regard

Un Certain Regard is a section of the Cannes Film Festival's Official Selection. It is run at the Salle Debussy, parallel to the competition for the Palme d'Or.This section was introduced in 1978 by Gilles Jacob...

 section at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival

2002 Cannes Film Festival

The 2002 Cannes Film Festival started on 15 May and ran until 26 May. The Palme d'Or went to the Polish-French-German-British co-produced film The Pianist directed by Roman Polanski.-Jury:* David Lynch * Sharon Stone* Michelle Yeoh...

.

Plot

Wang Guixiang (Liao Qin) and her husband (Li Longjun) are a migrant couple living in Beijing

Beijing

Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...

. Wang is eking out a career selling pirated DVDs when disaster strikes and police confiscate her DVD stocks, and her husband is arrested after getting into a fight over a mahjong

Mahjong

Mahjong, sometimes spelled Mah Jongg, is a game that originated in China, commonly played by four players...

 game. Forced to return to Guizhou, she meets an old boyfriend (Wei Xingkun), who suggests she take a job as a professional mourner. Surprisingly, Wang finds herself very good at her new job as a "cry woman" and soon discovers that her talents are very much in demand.

External links

• Cry Woman at the Chinese Movie Database Official Site (French release)