The film of Qiu Ju Da Guan Si was produced by Zhang Yimou who was the fifth generation filmmaker in China. Also this is the most realistic film I have ever seen before. The story was happened in a small mountain village, the main character---Qiu Ju is a peasant woman whose husband was kicked by the village Chief. The only thing that Qiu Ju wants is an apology. However, it is difficult to achieve. Because of village Chief is a stubborn man, he did not think he made a mistake at that case; also he wants to save his face, so he did not want to give apologies. After that, Qiu Ju wants use the legal system to get an apology. The whole process is from the village to county, from county to city, finally to the court.The plot of this film revolves around the Qiu Ju's action. Through the process, it describes the rural life and the relationship between people and people. Also, it highlights the realistic ethics. The filming technique is unadorned, and includes some practical life scenes; so, it can make an overwhelming1y strong sense of reality. From the beginning of film, we can see a typical Chinese mountain village with a traditional ditty of Shan Xi. Then, we can see a pregnant women walking in the snow and her name is Qiu Ju, this scene make me impressive. From the whole, we can see many different kinds of expression in her eyes. It includes Confused, obstinate, anticipate, disappointed, curious, and beatific. These changing also reflect the development of her case. In this film, the officer Li Gong An always say the village chief is very stubborn. But in fact, Qiu Ju is more stubborn than village chief. The dialogue 'Want a reasonable statement'appeared many times, it means Qiu Ju just want a statement. The structure of this film is very clean and irregular, the light also natural. Some of the lens is candid and plus some non-professional actors' performance, it makes the film more rustic. The costume is very particular, we can see Qiu Ju's clothes are red and there are many pimientos around their house, also she always wears a green scarf, it forms a strong comparison. In addition, there are many metaphors in the film. For example, the music in the beginning of this film is a ditty of Shan Xi. When Qiu Ju went to prosecute the village chief, and then we can hear the ditty; When she get the same result and back to her village, the ditty also come out. That is a tough process, but she never give up, we can hear the ditty many times, it means Qiu Ju do the same thing many times. Besides, there is a scene that Qiu Ju talks to the prefecture officer, she told them she graduated from high school. As we know, a high school degree is quite good for the villagers. It means due to she had a high school degree, so she knows that she can get a reasonable statement through the legal system. From this aspect, we can get an idea that Qiu Ju was trying to protect her rights. In this film, we can find out anther point that many villagers did not know the laws and regulations, so they do not know how to protect their rights. Even the writer who helps people to write the application for their lawsuit was not familiar with laws. It is a social problem at that time. Otherwise, there was a contradiction in this film, as we know Qiu Ju just wants an apology, but the village chief did not gave her an apology. So, she tries again and again. During the process, Qiu Ju's childbirth was not successfully, and then her husband went to chief's home and asks for help. At that time, the chief ignore the misunderstanding and still help them. After that, the chief told Qiu Ju's husband, if Qiu Ju still wants a statement then she can continued to prosecute him. I think this part is very important to this story. Finally, the chief was taken by the policeman that is the statement for Qiu Ju. However, Qiu Ju just wants an apology, she never want see this result. At last, we can hear the sound and see Qiu Ju was searching for the car. At the end of the film, the camera gave her a close-up, her face was full of helpless and confusion.In short, the director Zhang Yimou uses this story to express the awakening of personal rights. Also, Gong Li played the role of Qiu Ju is very well; Gong Li's performance praises the peasant woman's new characteristic which is self-confident, self-respect. In my opinion, this film is full of Chinese characteristic; it reflects the social condition of that time and includes people's thought changing. So, I think this film is very good.

I just finished watching the film for the second time and loved it more than the first screening. I am in no way an authority in Chinese customs but I do know a bit about the importance of losing face, which is the crux of the movie. I don't see this film as one that plods along to it's conclusion as a previous review stated. Rather the film is neatly structured, showing Qui Ju taking her case from one level to the next and the next. She is insistent on making sure that the right thing is done. The conclusion (in my opinion) is not the expected one and causes the weight of the previous 100 minutes to impact the viewer. The films cyclical pattern of appeal, rejection, and appeal may be monotonous to some viewers. Not Zhang Yimou's best film as the previous reviewer mentioned, but well worth watching. If you want that check out "To Live". I would say it is one of Gong Li's most interesting performances though.

all the knee-jerk reviewers with their banal, namby pamby comments used all the high ratings up. Get real people, she wants "nothing more than to have the village elder apologize to her husband". NO. She wants the apology for herself. How many people like this do I know? People who've never accomplished much of anything in their lives, but they run around like the Queen of Sheba, demanding the world listen to them above all else. "bureaucratic nightmare"?!?! She gets treated better than Americans do by both their government and most of the commercial organizations which we pay for service! "a completely convoluted and impregnable" system "totally devoid of compassion and understanding"? The system is open to her, even saying "you have a right to be suspicious, we might make mistakes" & then prompting her to take it to the next level. The system UNDERSTANDS that systems cannot make people APOLOGIZE. Systems can throw people in jail, fine them, etc. An apology is an emotion, not a system event. Her problem is she doesn't understand what things are worth & worth fighting for. She's always haggling over money in the film. What are things worth? What is an "I'm sorry" spoken by someone with a gun held to their head WORTH? Get real people. "the Chinese are quiet, gentle people"!?!? Yeah, tell that to all the victims of the Cultural Revolution, Tiananmen Square, etc. They are PEOPLE, some good, some bad, some gentle, some psychotic killers more interested in their own good time & fortune than in other people's next breath. Get real. "Oh, it shows the real Chinese countryside." It was made IN the Chinese countryside by Chinese! Were you expecting to be reminded of Coal Miner's Daughter & the Appalachians perhaps?All in all, fine acting and a fine Rorschach of a story. It drags quite a bit in the "local color" scenes, but for anyone who has never strayed more than 500 miles from their birthplace, there's the local color.

The story is of a poor, uneducated yet stubborn farmwoman seeking justice from a highly bureaucratic government (for a seemingly minor injustice), and the nightmarish journey she must endure to achieve it. Her numerous trips to the city and meetings with various officials result in a surprise ending. The operative lesson from this movie: Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it.Having visited the Chinese country outside Tianjin and Beijing in 1999, this movie is the most realistic I have ever seen. This film serves as a geniune window into what everyday life is like in rural and urban China. The humorous scene of the shy young couple applying for the marraige license seems almost too real, as if they had a Candid Camera on them. I am most curious how the makers of this film were able to plop one of the most famous (and most beautiful) stars of mainland China in the middle of the many on-location scenes and not have anyone recognize her?? (Although in a couple of scenes it looks like people might have). Doubtless her unflattering costume emphasizing her pregnancy helped disguise her for most of the movie. Also note the distant camera shots, which enables the camera to be hidden and inconspicuous and also not draw attention to Gong Li. Either that or the makers must have used the most extras ever hired for a movie. I would like to find out more about the methods used to make this film. In any case, the results are another delightful and glorious piece from Zhang Yimou.