Chinese Reviews Reviews

Film Analysis: Her Story (2024) by Shao Yihui

Her Story Shao Yihui Song Jia Zhong Chuxi Zeng Mumei
"Go create new rules of the game!"

Three years after her debut film, the excellent “”, director and screenwriter is back with another Shanghai-set comedy about friendship and family. This time, however, Shao is much more ambitious in her desire to tackle themes rarely heard about in Chinese cinema, like divorce and co-parenting, domestic violence, patriarchy and gender stereotypes. Judging by its large success at the box office, the film has struck a chord with Chinese audiences.

” is Wang Tiemei’s story. Wang (very convincingly played by ) is a single mother in her forties doing her best, if sometimes awkwardly, to raise her nine-year-old daughter. She must also deal with her ex-husband (the adorable ), an affable if bumbling man who frequently visits them and does not seem ready to move on. She must also manage a younger would-be suitor (the equally adorable ), a new job as the editor of social media public account, and the many vicissitudes of everyday single motherhood.

But “Her Story” is also Xiao Ye’s story. Xiao (the excellent , also known as Elaine Zhong) is Wang’s thirty-something new neighbor, and the two women soon develop a close bond despite their differing ages and very contrasting personalities. Xiao is a whimsical, liberated young woman who dates a man only for sex but soon develops feelings for him, whereas he treats her more like a friend with benefits – one among many. Wang is a practical, no-nonsense mother, whereas Xiao is a musician with a strong bohemian personality. But they find common grounds in their conditions as women who must inhabit a patriarchal world.

Finally, “Her Story” is also Moli’s story. Moli (newcomer ) is the strong-willed, witty nine-year-old daughter, who must deal with her mother’s exacting education, her dotting father, school bullying, and her own many frustrations. Meeting Xiao Ye will turn out to be a watershed moment for her, as the happy-go-lucky Xiao will open new doors for her and, perhaps, new opportunities for her future life as an adult woman. At the same time, free spirited but emotionally vulnerable Xiao can learn a lot from a family that is, despite its many issues, fundamentally a healthy and loving one.

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These three characters and their relationships sit at the heart of the many story arcs that are artfully weaved through a film that often feels like a comedy (the Chinese audience in the theater roared through the screening), and sometimes like a heartbreaking drama. “Her Story” is the type of film that manages to make gold out of life’s little experiences and micro-dramas, like the everyday sounds (doing the dishes, walking down the stairs) that Xiao records for work (she is also a sound engineer). Everyday life is the subject matter here.

The film is adroit enough that it can even foreground, somewhat metafictionally, this very lack of spectacular drama in its own stories. As an online editor, Wang must supervise the articles being written by her writing team, and she has debates with her younger employees whether writing about the struggles of a single mother is really interesting and relevant. This also allows the movie to discuss social media and online bullying, as single mothers who talk about themselves and their sex life can easily be torn apart online (the film regularly features closeups of smartphone screens to allow audiences to read these messages, yet very problematically they were never translated into English).

“Her Story” is also meant to be any woman’s story, Chinese or otherwise, and the film does address topics that one would expect in a Greta Gerwig movie rather than a Chinese one. It is often during dinner conversations that the characters will talk about, for instance, having their period for the first time and the way their mothers reacted to that experience.  After all, as little Moli matter-of-factly points out, “more than half the world’s population bleeds” (a similar scene can be seen in “20th Century Women”, with a character played by Gerwig leading the conversation).

One of the highlights of the picture is another dinner scene, when Wang’s ex-husband and her suitor try to outcompete each other by claiming to be liberated from the shackles of patriarchy and “gender privilege” and to having read Japanese feminist icon Chizuko Ueno. That scene is full of witty banter and topical remarks about what being a man or a woman means and conveys its many serious ideas in a hilarious manner, like all great comedies. References to women going against type to box or play the drums will also bring to mind ‘s “”, which also tackled gender stereotypes and female empowerment to great effect (and box office heights). Such scenes are a great way to explain in simple and effective terms what phrases like “toxic masculinity” mean, making the film both a gentle and an edgy vehicle to encourage discussion of feminist themes.

The movie even mentions homosexuality and use it as a plot device, something that is even more off limits for Chinese cinema, with a rainbow flag and a homosexual couple seen flirting in the background of a shot. There is a strong liberated feeling about the movie itself, which, like the earlier “B for Busy”, uses the former French concession in the heart of Shanghai not simply as a charming urban-chic backdrop but as one of the places where Chinese society is probably at its most cosmopolitan and progressive. Characters are glimpsed reading American writers and mention reading The New York Times (a newspaper whose access is restricted in China), Moli is a Taylor Swift fan, while the family talks about visiting France and a French song is heard on the soundtrack (the characters often visit a concert venue that allows the film to play alt-rock songs).

These elements are not just the longings of modern characters but also part of a subtle social critique at the heart of “Her Story”, beyond the inclusion of LGBTQ+ elements. #MeToo plot points are incorporated, including one fleeting scene depicting street harassment, and another obliquely addressing the theme of sexual consent. In another scene, Wang mentions how she longs to travel after so many years of Covid-19 lockdowns; in another, Xiao shows off her stockpiles of daily essentials while the statue of an elephant can be glimpsed in the shot – harsh Covid restrictions are literally the elephant in the room. Wang explains having once quit journalism because she was tired of “the decline of the profession”, in a nod to the rise of social media and superficial “lifestyle” articles, but also possibly to official restrictions and censorship.

This is a lot to cram into a 2-hour movie, and yet it somehow all works. Even little Molie’s bullying at school works, as it creates a challenge for her similar to that of her adult counterparts. “Her Story” is also at heart a coming of age story, one artfully visualized by Shao through, for instance, a frame within a frame to enhance a moment of mother/daughter bonding. School bullying also allows the film to discuss education (one of the main themes) and makes it possible to include a scene where the teacher explains to the elementary school children why “snitching” is so bad – yet another possible covert social critique, this time of people denouncing each other to the authorities to settle personal grudges.

Most importantly, it all rings true to the experience of women and men in modern society, be it in China or elsewhere. “Her Story” is a rare example of Chinese cinema grappling with topical issues that have proved controversial around the world. The fact that 2024 started with a female-led blockbuster like “YOLO” and ended with a female-led sleeper hit like “Her Story” is a very encouraging sign about the vitality of Chinese cinema and female filmmaking in particular. Hopefully 2025 can take on the challenge and allow even more women to express themselves through great films.

About the author

Mehdi Achouche

Based in Paris. My life-long passions are cinema and TV series, and I enjoy nothing more than sharing my thoughts about the latest film and TV show to grab my imagination. I grew up in the 1980s and 1990s watching Hong Kong cinema and the Zhang Yimou/Gong Li films from those decades. The Takeshi Kitano films from the same era completed my early film education. I have never been the same since then.

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