Sons (1996 film)
Encyclopedia
Sons is a 1996 Chinese film
directed by Zhang Yuan
. Detailing the collapse of a family due to alcoholism
, Sons straddles the line between fiction and documentary, as the film's "actors" all play themselves in reenactments of their own lives.
Zhang came upon the idea of making a film about a family's collapse into alcoholism after hearing about the story of his downstairs neighbors, former professional dancers, and their two grown sons.
The film was privately financed and was made outside of the traditional studio system. As a result, Sons was never screened in China.
Shooting Sons required Zhang to simply film the Li family as they interacted with each other. In the process, Zhang became very comfortable with the family, to the extent that they would forget that cameras were around. Zhang relates one instance where the family's argument got so out of hand that Zhang had to intervene before the "actors" injured each other.
Sons was also one of the three Tiger Award winners at the 1996 International Film Festival Rotterdam
, where it also won a FIPRESCI
prize.
As for the family, the parents, Li Maojie and Fu Derong, never fully accepted the film. According to Zhang, after watching the film, "the entire family seemed to be under a heavy silence, and I could detect traces of hurt and melancholy on their faces."
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 Zhang Yuan
Zhang Yuan
Zhang Yuan is a Chinese film director who has been described by film scholars as a pioneering member of China's Sixth Generation of filmmakers...
. Detailing the collapse of a family due to alcoholism
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
, Sons straddles the line between fiction and documentary, as the film's "actors" all play themselves in reenactments of their own lives.
Zhang came upon the idea of making a film about a family's collapse into alcoholism after hearing about the story of his downstairs neighbors, former professional dancers, and their two grown sons.
The film was privately financed and was made outside of the traditional studio system. As a result, Sons was never screened in China.
Cast
- Li Maojie, the father, a former professional dancer, he has long since succumbed to alcoholism and is eventually committed to a mental asylumPsychiatric hospitalPsychiatric hospitals, also known as mental hospitals, are hospitals specializing in the treatment of serious mental disorders. Psychiatric hospitals vary widely in their size and grading. Some hospitals may specialise only in short-term or outpatient therapy for low-risk patients...
by his family. The father, Li Maojie, was given special permission to leave the mental asylum he had been committed to in order to film his scenes. - Fu Derong, the mother, also a former dancer.
- Li Ji & Li Wei, Li Maojie and Fu Derong's two sons who have also begun to drink heavily. Both sons also helped guide the writing of the script by Ning Dai to accurately reflect what really happened to their family.
Production
The idea of Sons came directly from the two sons of the Li family, Li Ji and Li Wei. According to Zhang, the two sons literally knocked on his door and immediately claimed that they were both the "baddest family on the block" and that their father, who had been committed to a mental institute, was also "awesome." Fascinated by this seemingly contradictory account of the Li family, Zhang agreed to make a film based on their story. In contrast to the sons, the parents of Li Ji and Li Wei were not in favor of making a film, and never fully accepted the idea of their lives being put down on film.Shooting Sons required Zhang to simply film the Li family as they interacted with each other. In the process, Zhang became very comfortable with the family, to the extent that they would forget that cameras were around. Zhang relates one instance where the family's argument got so out of hand that Zhang had to intervene before the "actors" injured each other.
Reception
Though never screened in its native China, Sons helped cement Zhang Yuan's reputation abroad as a major creative force in Chinese cinema. The film was screened in several international cities and film festivals including New York in 2001.Sons was also one of the three Tiger Award winners at the 1996 International Film Festival Rotterdam
International Film Festival Rotterdam
The International Film Festival Rotterdam is an annual film festival held in various cinemas in Rotterdam, Netherlands held at the end of January. It is approximately comparable in size to other major European festivals such as Cannes, Venice, Berlin, and Locarno...
, where it also won a FIPRESCI
FIPRESCI
The International Federation of Film Critics is an association of national organizations of professional film critics and film journalists from around the world for "the promotion and development of film culture and for the safeguarding of professional interests." It was founded in June 1930 in...
prize.
As for the family, the parents, Li Maojie and Fu Derong, never fully accepted the film. According to Zhang, after watching the film, "the entire family seemed to be under a heavy silence, and I could detect traces of hurt and melancholy on their faces."
External links
- Sons at the Chinese Movie Database