China,
1983, 144 min
Shown in 1985
CREDITS
- dir
-
Xie Jin
- scr
-
Xie Jin, Huang Zhongjiang
Turn-of-the-century poet and revolutionary Qiu Jin is one of the most fascinating characters in modern Chinese history. Leaving behind a wealthy arranged marriage and her two children, she went off to study in Japan—where she became involved in the radical overseas Chinese student movement. Qiu continued her revolutionary activities against the corrupt Qing dynasty after returning to China in 1906. She was captured and put to death in 1907. Director Xie Jin (Two Stage Sisters) is well known for his strong female characters, as well as for the care he pays to authenticity of costume and setting. For Qiu Jin, he spent 17 days shooting in the shadow of Mt. Fuji (with the assistance of Japan’s Toei Studio). The result is a strikingly beautiful film which focuses much more closely on the individual character and private foibles of the heroine than was possible in earlier film biographies of Chinese revolutionaries.
—Steve Horowitz
FACTOID #130
Spike Lee has attended the San Francisco International several times. He came, film reels in hand, for the world premiere of She’s Gotta Have It in 1986. He returned in 1994 with Crooklyn, which starred Oakland’s own Delroy Lindo. And in 2007 he received the Festival’s Film Society Directing Award.
