Based on the story „Cousin“ by the Taiwanese Chinese writer Shi Shuqing, Miaomiao Liu's drama “Red Flowers and Green Leaves”, which has its North American premiere in the Lili vs. Leviathan programme of the Mulan International Film Festival in Toronto, tells a tale of a young man Li Guoqing, called Gubo (Luo Kewang) whose arranged marriage to a girl “with the past” Asheeyen (Ma Siqi) takes a surprisingly happy end.
“Red Flowers and Green Leaves” is screening at Mulan International Film Festival:
Gubo is a 22-year-old handsome man who lives on his parents' farm in a small village in Northwest China close to Lanzhou. In a tightly knitted community marked by patriarchal traditions where everyone minds everyone else's business, he is suddenly cornered by his family's wish to marry him off through a matchmaker (Zhang Jing), a woman who is aware of his secret and careful not to reveal it to the parents-in-law to be. Ever since he was a little Boy, Gubo has been suffering from a mysterious “condition”, and as we don't really have a name to it, although the way it's spoken about hints at epilepsy, it's uncertain if it's harmless or lethal. Determined to live his life to the full (as he says in his voice-over introduction to the film: “I said to myself: Gubo, the less you worry, the better you live”), he ignores the advices by a family doctor Li Feng (Zhang Dongfang), a corrupt and undiplomatic man, who is quicker to belittle him than to help. The doctor even uses his power as the only medic in the area to snatch Gubo's allowance from the community and secure it to his “disabled” wife (Ren Xiuzhen), whose only disability seems to be tongue working faster than the brain. It's a public humiliation of sorts, as the secret becomes revealed to people outside of the family's close circle of relatives and friends.
The young bride marked by the tragic passing of her big love is scared by the prospect of sharing her life and bed with an introverted and ill Gubo, and it takes some time for her to get disarmed by his genuine goodness. Both seen as outcasts, they bond over society's inability to recognize their pain.
Being set in a secluded Hui Muslim community that both Shi Shuqing and Miaomiao Liu originate from, the film opens a door to a rarely explored world of one of China's minorities that live according to their own tradition and moral values. The authenticity comes from all roles being played by non-professional actors from the region that the director met through personal contacts, who visibly feel comfortable where they are, mirroring the life they know about. Between the dialogue-packed scenes, it feels as if all protagonists were caught dwelling with everyday duties on the farms, fields and households, singing local songs and sharing stories, although nothing was left to improvisation. The acting comes across as natural and effortless, probably due to director's special connection to the region and its people.
Painted in tones of a bedtime fairy-tale, the narrative is hearty and predictable, finding its anchor in the well-oiled mechanism of successful formulas: good character and humbleness win over evils of life, patience and respect mend the broken heart, and the truth saves the day. And although it's all of it – and sometimes, although not often enough, life does play it that way, Liu's first long-feature after a ten-years break since “Uptown Girl and Donetown Girl” is a breath-taking watch. Shot in terracotta tones so warm that make you want to snuggle inside and never let go, director of photography Hu Weijie and cinematographer He Yun have created a place of hope and dreams, populated with sunflower fields and magical mountain slopes. Add to it the impeccable production design by Zhu Bing who has chosen places of such mesmerising beauty that make you feel like a tourist with a nose pasted to the car window to absorb it all and enjoy the ride.
“Red Flowers and Green Leaves” is a story about restoring hopes in chance of personal happiness, that equally challenges viewers inner misconceptions of cultures they barely know anything about.
