An impressive enough directorial debut, actress Joan Chen's "Xiu Xiu The Sent Down Girl" may draw some curiosity due to its odd and awkward title, but will certainly be best known for the controversy it's generated in China where it was shot. It seems that to shoot a film there, one has to have total government approval of a project's script and final cut, and when the former didn't receive it, Chen decided to shoot the film anyway, guerilla style. As such, she's drawn the wrath of the Chinese government.
Ironically, while the film is somewhat of a muted indictment of the effects the country's cultural revolution had on its people in the 1960's and '70's, it barely mentions the country by name and the remote Tibetan locales that serve as most of the film's backdrops offer no identifiable features to allow the viewer to know what they're seeing. While it's not quite much ado about nothing, the reaction is certainly more brouhaha than necessary.
Of course a film showing a government's social action leading to a young girl prostituting herself -- and ultimately worse -- certainly isn't the makings of what a country's tourism board would use. With the rest of the humanitarian-related flak that China's received over the recent years, this clearly isn't what they need (although it's debatable if it's what they deserve) and that's probably a big part of the uproar surrounding this film.
In essence a two-character story, the film follows the "odd couple" relationship of a young and naive girl, with a solemn and emasculated horse herder and the effects of her descent into madness of sorts on both. As such, it's an unusual twist on the old Romeo and Juliet theme. Instead of two star-crossed lovers, however, we have a mostly one-sided platonic love story, although fate and forces beyond their control still manage to yield similarly disturbing results.
Since the screenplay by Chen and screenwriter Yan Geling -- who adapts her own novella "Tian Yu" (Heavenly Bath) -- doesn't offer a great deal of substantial filler, and considering that one character mainly reacts and doesn't say much, the film relies heavily on its visual elements and the actors' nonverbal mannerisms to tell most of the story.
Chen -- best known for her appearances in "The Last Emperor" and TV's "Twin Peaks" -- clearly has an eye for direction, and certainly doesn't skimp on the film's visual symbolism. The desolate countryside represents what the government has done to Xiu Xiu and millions of other kids, while the shots and mentioning of various approaching storms signify the troubles and danger lurking down the road toward which the story is dragging its characters.
While all of that sounds either terribly depressing or menacingly dramatic, to be truthful, the film occasionally bogs down due to its often slow pace and the aforementioned lack of "filler" elements. As such, audiences may find themselves getting restless at certain moments.
The symbolism and the obvious route headed toward inevitable trouble do keep things mildly interesting (although the pace and one's interest does finally pick up near the end), but the film could have used some additional scenes -- not to add length, but to replace existing dull or repetitive ones. For instance, despite all the talk about the horse herding, training and the possibility of the all-girl cavalry, we don't see any of it -- and not much of the horses at that -- during the six plus month "schooling" period.
Although it's clear that the film obviously wasn't intended to be "The Horse Whisperer," a few scenes related to that would have helped the film during its slower moments and possibly also could have provided for some much needed comic relief to offset the serious-minded drama. Beyond that, some brief, bookend voice-over narration from Xiu Xiu's former suitor shows signs of the story's literary roots, but doesn't have much impact -- for good or bad -- on the proceedings.
The performances, however, are first-rate. Making her screen debut in a leading role after two prior cameos, young actress Lu Lu has the unenviable, but certainly noteworthy task of playing a character that goes through a massive dramatic arc over a relatively short time.
Equally as believable in both appearance and demeanor as the naive young teen and the "world weary," but steadfast in her hopes prostitute, Lu Lu delivers an incredibly strong and disturbing performance. For not only does she allow the audience to feel sorry for her and her dashed dream, but she also makes the moviegoer feel dislike or even hatred for what she does to herself and to Lao Jin.
Inhabiting that character is Tibetan actor Lopsang, who must do most of his acting in a reactive rather than proactive fashion. While that usually leads to a passive characterization, that's perfectly suitable for this role. Playing a man who falls for Xiu Xiu in a platonic, near father-like way, Lopsang effortlessly allows the audience to feel his pain and sorrow, and that's without the opportunity of utilizing many words.
While the picture won't be for everyone and is certainly anything but happy, the acting is superb, Chen's direction is quite good for a novice, and the film's technical merits -- from cinematographer Lu Yue's lensing to Johnny Chen's haunting score -- are first-rate.
Although we almost always refrain from giving depressing films -- like this one and others such as "Leaving Las Vegas" -- really high scores simply because while they can be admired, they're not a lot of fun to watch, we'll still give "Xiu Xiu The Sent Down Girl" a 6.5 out of 10.
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