She, a Chinese (2009) User Reviews (8)

An International Story of rural naivety & of moving onward & outward

[tim-764-291856 · 7/10 · 19 October 2011]

I am enjoying this straightforward story, shown on Film 4, initially set in modern contemporary China, free from censorship and which portrays through the eyes of the bored, restless young woman and the life she leads needed simply to move on.

Those of us, yes, myself included, who had to move away from staid, quiet rural backwaters and just 'set-off', will feel an affinity, an earthy matter-of-fact rawness about just doing what happens to come along, whether wise, or unwise.

All film producing countries have such tales of passage and morality and this succeeds by being slightly documentary in style and paying the same emphasis to all that happens, thus neither promoting or dramatising them; whether that's the routine preparation of a duck for eating or finding a miniature British gin bottle and keeping it as a souvenir where her father is scouring out a living on a vast rubbish site.

Filmed in 2008, the snapshot of a hugely changing China may already be out of date. But, should be seen, almost for just doing that. Romantically lolling in a landscape fringed by a forest of cranes over huge skeletons of grey, unfinished buildings and then an oxen led by a farmer plods by. The girl asks to listens to her boyfriend's I-Pod on colour-matching headphones. His designer sunglasses hint so strongly to the draw of the West and how, falsely, of course, how London etc has become the exotic land of dreams, via simplistic and overemphasised stereotyped icons.

I'm not going to comment on the girl's plight or make any judgements. Yes, as I said, it is a story of that's been told a thousand times but this is fresh, with natural, sweary dialogue and situations that range from the mundane to the bizarre (but believable). It does side-step some moral issues simply to keep the story flowing and gives us a glimpse of our culture through the eyes of an emotionally bruised but determined youth.

I wasn't relishing watching this, due to the (few) not-so-favourable reviews but overall I found it unpretentious, fresh and largely interesting tale and without the oh-so obvious finger-wagging that can accompany such a rites of passage tale. There's also some suitably enigmatic soundtrack music from John Parish.

Bit off more than it could chew

[sitenoise · 6/10 · 22 February 2011]

Frustrated with life in a rural village, she's slapped by her mom, groped by her boyfriend, raped by a truck driver, moves to Shenzhen. Fired from a factory job on her first day, she volunteers to work at a Love Salon. Her lover gets killed (good thing he had a pile of money underneath his mattress). She moves to London and gets a job but her first paycheck is taken back because she has no bank account. She goes to work in a massage parlor and marries a wrinkly old white guy with a bank account who reads the newspaper too often and his cat dies. She gets pregnant by an Indian whose cultural identity is calling him home rather than pushing him away, so he leaves her. The quantity of bummers in this film is so thick it skips along too rapidly and loses credibility.

Lu Huang as Mei (The 'She' of the title) does a fine job plowing her way through the endless misfortune (she did the same thing in Blind Mountain—a great film), so props to her. The story, however, which has a heart and good intentions, asks so much of its characters it stretches the limits of credulity creating distance instead of empathy. It begins to suggest that the circumstances "She" gets into are a result of personal selfishness, or stupidity, rather than exposing or exploring the difficult climb from rural Chinese village to downtown London.

I recommend this film because many of the realities and situations it points at are worth considering. I just wish it would have pointed at a few less and explored them more deeply, or with a whisper of hope. I've got nothing against bleak films, but She, A Chinese gives the impression that once the desire to break free of tradition and hopeless circumstances begins, a stream of unrelenting nausea is likely to follow. Which in turn begs the question of whether the scenarios depicted in the film are the result of the personal characteristics of this particular She, in a sense becoming a character study, or if they are some sort of warning siren or social commentary on what a bitch life is if you begin from a certain place, look a certain way, and have unrealistic expectations concerning what can be done about it.

Broken into discreet elements—the film is broken into discreet parts with the use of title cards that offer sometimes whimsical commentary on various events—the execution is pretty good, but the overall impact is diluted. The performances are solid and the director does a good job making things appear realistic so it might just be a case of truth being harder to get on board with than fiction.

This movie was quite interesting...

[paul_haakonsen · 6/10 · 8 September 2012]

Director Xiaolu Guo have managed to put together a rather interesting movie here with "She, A Chinese", as it tells a very deep and compelling story.

The story told in "She, A Chinese" is about Li Mei who lives in a small rural village in China, dreaming of a better life. However, in her desire to get there she runs into some less than savory characters, and when she finally do get to Chongqing, she ends up with equally less than savory characters as she takes up work in the "Love Salon" - a salon that does more than just cut hair. And her fortune changes as she runs into a thug with a good amount of money. A spur of the moment decision takes Li Mei to London where she ends up marrying an older British man, but falling in love with an Indian immigrant.

"She, A Chinese" is a movie about a girl's journey from dreams to reality, but also a journey from girlhood into adulthood. But it is also a movie about the actual journey itself, from the small Chinese village in the East to the bustling metropolis London in the West. It is a story that is nicely told and really brought to life quite well on the screen.

The people cast for the various roles were doing great jobs, and of course the lead role of Li Mei (played by Lu Huang) was the center of the movie and she really carried the movie quite well.

It should be said that "She, A Chinese" might be somewhat of an acquired taste. If you are familiar with Asian cinema, this movie will deviate somewhat from the mainstream movies that comes out of Asia. But it is in no way in a negative way, and "She, A Chinese" is really a good movie with good entertainment value. And it paints a vivid portrait of the differences between East and West and the clash of cultures.

The movie is not fast-paced, so if you don't enjoy movies that takes it times to get you from A to B, then "She, A Chinese" is not the movie for you. However, if you enjoy a very real and down to Earth drama, then "She, A Chinese" is perhaps right up your alley.

I enjoy Asian cinema quite a lot and came across the movie by sheer luck as I was browsing movies on Amazon. It is a good addition to my DVD collection and I was impressed with the impact the story left on me. So, in my opinion, "She, A Chinese" is definitely worth a watch.

Chinese Journey

[ninjaalexs · 7/10 · 22 June 2020]

A young woman (Mei) moves from rural China to England for a better life. Mei moves to London and does unfulfilling jobs like being a topless Biology model for university classes, working in a factory and being a mascot for a shop. While in London she meets two men. One an older wealthy man who takes a shine to her, but gets bored with her quickly. At the same time she meets Rachid, a Takeaway shop owner.

The film is loosely based on the book "A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers" by Xiaolu Guo, which I read prior to this film being made. The films deals with themes of alienation and being a "fish out of water". The film is shot in social realist way and looks a bit like films directed by Ken Loach or Mike Leigh in that it could almost pass for a documentary. I was reminded of Nick Broomfield's 'Ghosts' (2006) due it dealing with similar themes and it being about Chinese people living in England. The film shows Mei as a free spirit and possibly immature. I thought she is a bit like being trapped in a glass box, thinking she is free, but isn't in reality.

The film features an atmospheric score from John Parish. I wanted to like this film more than I did especially after reading the book. It's a run of the mill realistic drama, but it is well-acted and put together. As a word of warning the film does feature some fairly explicit sex scenes for anyone expecting something cosy.

This is not real life!

[mkuczok · 1/10 · 28 June 2010]

I don't understand all the praise for this picture and awarding it at the festival - what for? On the one hand, I feel pity for the main character who is so unlucky with men and love life, or actually sex life because there was merely any love in those relationships; on the other hand, however, I am convinced that she is to blame for her own fate: most of her decisions to start the relationships were totally inconsiderate. Was she so naive or so stupid? I believe that everyone is responsible for one's actions, and if we happen to make a mistake, we should learn from it. This was something that Li Mei doesn't do. I also can't help the impression that while the girl is portrayed as an innocent and pure creature, a victim, all the men around her turn out to be bad primitive beasts, who are incapable of true love. This is not real life!

A little seen and interesting film about working class struggle for identity

[vampire_hounddog · 5/10 · 29 July 2020]

Twenty-something Li Mei (Lu Huang) drifts between jobs in the Chonqing region of China (formally known as Chungking) working in low paid jobs and finding herself mixed up with the wrong sort. Eventually she arrives in London as a tourist and begins working in a massage parlour where she gets to know one of her older clients, English man Geoffrey (Geoffrey Hutchings). She ends up marrying him for a visa and soon finds that she is struggling to adapt to her new country.

This Anglo-Chinese film directed by Xiaolu Guo is truly a global one and one that addresses challenges for the working class or underclass who try to adapt to this global world in search of a better life. Both for a western or Chinese audience it highlights those concerns well, although there are points of flatness in the film and it doesn't really provide any answers other than "it just is".

Fine Enough for a Prize

[kennethd-3 · 8/10 · 29 March 2010]

This international film festival award winner did not disappoint me, not particularly impressive but still inspiring. The film is a beautiful and delicate work. It revolves the story of a Chinese girl who moved from one place to another and tried to pursue something invisible and uncatchable. I read Xiaolu Guo's books before. Guo truly got talent in portraying and conveying the sense of loneliness deep inside the hearts of modern people. I love movies, every movie to me is a unique journey to different places. And this time Xiaolu Guo took me travelling from city to city, letting me have reflections on my own identity and a thorough thinking of what I am running after. The film covers quite a lot of topics, from love to hate, discussing what really matters to us, what a life we are looking for. Having the story developing in a believable way is a tribute to the director and actors. Huang Lu gave a solid performance this time, successfully making the character alive in audience's mind.It is a film about people and people, about people and city. Not a must-see one, but won't regret if you watch it.

Underrated

[pauliewalnuts-49356 · 9/10 · 15 July 2020]

I think the rating is a bit low for this film... From the backwards peasant village,to the major city in chonqing,to the "bright lights" of London...was there any difference from either of these locations? All were dreary,following a young girl who,when you look at it just wanted to be loved and love someone herself. I think the lead actress was absolutely superb and there are some truly heartbreaking moments in this film,especially noticing how in one way or the other every Male she meets abuses her in some way or the other... I personally really enjoyed this film,in a depressing way albeit,and I would highly recommend people to watch it,I always believe a good film should stir emotion in you,this certainly did in me especially making me teary eyed over the depressing ending...