Interview of female director Ann Hui (Video clips from youtube

Film review ' The Sent-Down Girl ' (Xiu Xiu) (1998)

Film ‘The Sent-Down Girl ' (Xiu Xiu) was a ground-breaking feminist film in the 1990s in Chinese Cinema. Directed by female actress and director Joan Chen, the story was adapted by the novel of one the greatest female writers Geling Yan in this century. Unfortunately it was banned in the mainland China due to the sensitivity of the topic for Chinese government and big amount nudities. However it cannot be denied that the indelible influence it brought to the Chinese cinema and further filmmakers.  

It is almost impossible for modern people to understand the unique background of the story. 1975 was almost the end of cultural revolution—after the foundation of the PRChina chairman Mao established his own regime in this land, while after years he was deified by his own people. In the 1950s he initiated the movement to send teenagers in cities to countryside in the name of “perishing the discrepancies and contradiction” between cities and rural areas. For most of the teenagers it meant they lost the change of education, was forced to leave their hometown and family, did heavy manual labor in the fields. The female leading Xiu Xiu in the film is a true picture of the chaotic time. In the beginning she was volunteered to leave her hometown and expected to come back after six months. The life was tough and boring, she soon started missing her family and all the goodness in her hometown. After been tortured by the desperation and endless waiting, she gave her virginity to a man who promised to take her back to the city.

In order to film a bold topic director Joan had spent two years of preparation. Joan Chen started her career as a actress in the year 1977 in mainland China and went to America for further study in 1981. “ I was not attempting to "romanticize" the Cultural Revolution, but rather "poeticize" it — at best a dubious distinction.” she explained her intention of making this conservational historical issue into a feminist film when she knew it would not be accept by the mainstream media in China even until now. She was fearless—years of working and studying film in Hollywood had given her enough confidence for indicating this real disaster to the world. Referring to her own grandparents’ suffering during the Cultural Revolution, Chen says, "I believe when your experience is more crystallized through distance and time, you’re more able to poeticize something…but I don’t believe beauty exists without suffering…that’s just a tourist picture in a travel agency." 

Character development--useful tips for writing the character in my script

Facts when introduce the character (The Creative Writer. Addison-Wesley, 1998)

1. Physical Details about the character: Is he/she short, tall, thin, old, etc?

1. Physical environment surrounding the character: Is he/she on a desert island, in an urban community, living in the mountains, etc?

1. The other characters surrounding the character: What kinds of people does the character associate with?

1. The things that the character does: Does he/she go to school, fly an airplane, eat pizza every night for dinner, etc?

1. The things that the character says or thinks: These things reveal the character’s feelings and opinions about things

1. His/her family: relationships, beliefs, habits, religion, activities, etc. We are all greatly influenced by our family.

1. His/her vices: illnesses, drinking or swearing, compulsive spending, obsession with sweets, etc.

1. His/her pet peeves: disorganization, grammatical mistakes, slow drivers, etc. These things say a lot about a character’s personality.

1. His/her daily schedule: school, work, errands, etc. The narrative must weave around the character’s schedule, so it is good to detail it.

1. His/her strong point: strength, determination, forgiveness, etc. This trait may help the character to overcome hardship in the narrative.

1. His/her nicknames: Readers can learn a lot about a character by what his/her friends call them and why

Laura Mulvey-Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema examples