Peony
This review may contain spoilers
An unorthodox Red film, an absolute must-watch.
-SPOILERS FOR THE STORY-
An American doctor falls in love with a girl who loves a wanted revolutionist when she gets him to treat the Chinese guy for one of his ptsd attacks, where he falls into a stupor and chants his dead wife's name. Despite knowing the girl and the guy's love isn't mutual, the doctor only asks the girl's permission to date her and upon rejection, doesn't persuade her. He helps the guy get an Xray to see what causes his attacks, it's a sharpnel embedded in his brain, without removing it he will die soon but removal might result in paralysis.
Because of his entanglement in the political situation, he loses his job and the girl gets arrested, and the revolutionist tells him that he has realised he has truly moved on from his wife's death, and now he's nearing his death because of the shrapnel too and he will surrender to police in exchange for the girl.
It turns out the girl is now pregnant from an encounter in one of his attacks, and she is taken care of by the doctor while the revolutionist is executed. She dies in childbirth and the doctor adopts the baby girl, and asks the police to put the baby's parents' ashes together in a box. When the girl is older, he takes her to see the box and she opens it, and finds her dad's brain sharpnel inside.
The doctor watches his daughter smiling at a street parade with red galore all around and thinks "Seeing her smile, I understand her parents' passion now. They take joy in realising the ideals they believe in."
-END SPOILERS-
One will not be inclined to check this out because it sounds heavily political and potentially racist but damn, it was a pleasant surprise through and through.
It's a gem of a non-judgemental movie, where the story is told from an outsider pov but he doesn't whitesplain things that he has no business doing so, and despite the backdrop being that of a such chaotic and stressful time period, it focuses on the very human emotions even the revolutionists experience and the final result is utterly empathetic and charming. If this movie was made today everyone will be namecalling it propaganda and whatnot.
An American doctor falls in love with a girl who loves a wanted revolutionist when she gets him to treat the Chinese guy for one of his ptsd attacks, where he falls into a stupor and chants his dead wife's name. Despite knowing the girl and the guy's love isn't mutual, the doctor only asks the girl's permission to date her and upon rejection, doesn't persuade her. He helps the guy get an Xray to see what causes his attacks, it's a sharpnel embedded in his brain, without removing it he will die soon but removal might result in paralysis.
Because of his entanglement in the political situation, he loses his job and the girl gets arrested, and the revolutionist tells him that he has realised he has truly moved on from his wife's death, and now he's nearing his death because of the shrapnel too and he will surrender to police in exchange for the girl.
It turns out the girl is now pregnant from an encounter in one of his attacks, and she is taken care of by the doctor while the revolutionist is executed. She dies in childbirth and the doctor adopts the baby girl, and asks the police to put the baby's parents' ashes together in a box. When the girl is older, he takes her to see the box and she opens it, and finds her dad's brain sharpnel inside.
The doctor watches his daughter smiling at a street parade with red galore all around and thinks "Seeing her smile, I understand her parents' passion now. They take joy in realising the ideals they believe in."
-END SPOILERS-
One will not be inclined to check this out because it sounds heavily political and potentially racist but damn, it was a pleasant surprise through and through.
It's a gem of a non-judgemental movie, where the story is told from an outsider pov but he doesn't whitesplain things that he has no business doing so, and despite the backdrop being that of a such chaotic and stressful time period, it focuses on the very human emotions even the revolutionists experience and the final result is utterly empathetic and charming. If this movie was made today everyone will be namecalling it propaganda and whatnot.
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