Shanghai Story (2004)

Original title

美丽上海

Directed by

Peng Xiaolian

Genre

family drama film

Country

People's Republic of China

Runtime

1h 40m

Rating

5.8 of 10 from 4 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A family reunites in Shanghai as their elderly mother falls ill. The siblings confront old wounds and memories from their shared past.

emotionally resonantfamily conflictnostalgicrestrainedintrospectivegentleintimatebittersweet

What happens

Shanghai Story (Chinese: 美丽上海) is a 2004 Chinese film directed by Peng Xiaolian. A family drama, the film was the surprise winner of the 19th Golden Rooster Awards in China, where it won best picture over the heavily favored House of Flying Daggers. The film's win was also surprising given that the story, according to Arthur Jones (film director) of Variety, included references to the Cultural Revolution, which is still a sore subject for Chinese censors. Even more surprisingly, the film was little-touched by censors. While the film's studio in Shanghai requested changes to the ending, Peng asked for the decision to come from the State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television in Beijing, who chose to leave the film be. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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