Underplayed Gems

Seventeen Years (1999)

Seventeen Years poster
Original title
过年回家
Directed by
Zhang Yuan
Genre
drama film
Country
People's Republic of China, Italy
Runtime
1h 30m
Rating
7.0 of 10 from 11 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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How it feels

After a tragic accident in her childhood, a woman returns home for the first time in seventeen years. She must face her family and the unresolved feelings from the past.

melancholicreflectiveslow-burnemotionalquietbittersweetintimate

What happens

Seventeen Years (simplified Chinese: 过年回家; traditional Chinese: 過年回家; pinyin: guò nián huí jiā; lit. 'New Year Homecoming') is a 1999 Chinese film directed by Zhang Yuan and starring Li Bingbing in her feature film debut. Seventeen Years was screened at several international film festivals where it garnered numerous accolades, including the Silver Lion for Best Direction at the 56th Venice International Film Festival. The film is co-produced by Keetman Limited (China) and Fabrica (Italy), as presented by Keetman and the Xi'an Film Studio. It premiered concurrently with Zhang Yuan's documentary feature, Crazy English in the 1999 Locarno International Film Festival. Seventeen Years is seen, at least by some critics, as Zhang Yuan's move away from his "Bad Boy" image, an image that was cultivated after run-ins with Chinese authorities with his previous films, Beijing Bastards, and the homosexual-themed East Palace, West Palace. In contrast, Seventeen Years (and Crazy English) was produced under the aegis of the Chinese bureaucracy, though some editing of the film was required before it could be released. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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