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Review: The Story of Qiu Ju (秋菊打官司) (1992)
This was an interesting movie. Spoilers.
Story
The story is simple. Qiu Ju's husband Wan Qinglai was kicked in the groin by the town's "chief." Qiu Ju went to the local police to get justice and was awarded $200 to be paid by the chief. Qiu Ju really wanted an apology but the local police chief tried to convince her that this was for the best. The chief threw the money up in the air as an insult and Qiu Ju got angry and left without the money. The police tried to appease Qiu Ju by buying them some small gifts on behalf of the chief, but Qiu Ju wanted the personal apology.
Qiu Ju then went to the district police who was in the city. They spent some time getting accustomed to the pace of the city. The district police upped the damages to $250. While Wan Qinglai was willing to take the money, Qiu Ju still wanted the apology. Qiu Ju was recommended a lawyer from the district police officer. However, the lawsuit was unsuccessful. Qiu Ju then appealed to a higher court. As part of the court proceedings, Wan Qinglai had to undergo an X-ray.
Qiu Ju then went into labour, but due to complications, had to be sent to the hospital. The town chief, with the help of other men, carried her to the local hospital. When the baby turned one month, Qiu Ju invited the town chief over as a thank you for helping their family. The town chief didn't want to come, but Qiu Ju was adamant that he came.
However, during the one month celebration, the local police came to the celebration to tell Qiu Ju and Wan Qinglai that the X-ray showed that Wan Qinglai had actually broken a rib when he was kicked, which changed the situation, and thus the town chief was arrested and jailed for 15 days for assault. Qiu Ju tried to stop the police car that was to take the town chief away, but was unsuccessful.
The movie didn't end the way I thought it would. Initially, I thought the story was mostly about the unjust nature of bureaucracy, but I think what the final scene really made me think about was how the court system failed to match plaintiffs with damages that were meaningful to them. Throughout the movie, the town chief was willing to give money, but was unwilling to give an apology. In a way, money was allowing immoral people to get away with their actions by making it go away with money.
I think Qiu Ju still wanted her apology in the end of the film, but she saw the one month celebration as a thank you to the town chief for helping them with the birth of their son, which was separate from the fight with Wan Qinglai. She didn't care about the town chief getting incarcerated, she wanted him to own up to his wrongdoings. I think this also raises the question of whether incarceration is rehabilitation.
Characters
Qiu Ju as the big star in this movie. To her, money didn't mean much. She and her family lived a tough life, but she didn't mind it. She didn't care for the town chief's money either, especially when he flung it around in an insulting and condescending way. To her, she wanted the apology and admittance of wrongdoing, so much that she'd gotten into an argument with her husband when she headed off to the city to find the lawyer. In the end, her feelings didn't change. She was thankful to the town chief for helping her during her birth, but she still felt that he owed her husband an apology for his violence.
Wan Qinglai just wanted things to be smoothed over. He was willing to take the money as compensation for the town chief kicking him. He probably didn't like that Qiu Ju was causing a big ruckus around town with escalating their case, especially after he'd healed. That being said, I think he was still a family man. He got angry at Qiu Ju going off to the city again, but he was worried about her coming home late when the car broke down.
The town chief was kind of a douche because he condescended Qiu Ju and implied that they were only after his money, which Qiu Ju took offense at. After he helped Qiu Ju during childbirth, and Qiu Ju came over to personally invite him to the baby's one month celebration, I think he started to realize that Qiu Ju was a reasonable person capable of recognizing when others have helped her. He didn't want to go to the celebration at first, but I think after the personal visit, he realized that he could take steps towards mending the relationship. However, he was arrested right before he was to leave on charges of assault.
Other
Of course the topic of the justice system was a big topic in this movie.
I enjoyed watching the rural lifestyles that were portrayed in this period of China. First of all, we saw how the people living in the countryside lived very conservatively, relying on mostly manpower when working and travelling.
When Qiu Ju and her sister in law got to the city, it was clear that they were experiencing culture shock. Other than the biker who overcharged them, however, it was nice that many other people in the city gave them pointers, seeing as how they were unfamiliar with the city. Such people included the woman by the bikes who told Qiu Ju and her sister in law that they'd been overcharged, the innkeeper, district police officer Yan, and the lawyer Wu.
It seemed like many of the people on set were not actually extras, but in fact, actual people who were in the area for legitimate reasons. That, or the extras were just acting very convincingly. In any case, I thought that the way that scenes were shot were very realistic because we saw people going about doing their own things, including Qiu Ju and the characters of this movie.
Because there was so much going on in the background in many scenes, I found it difficult to hear the characters speaking at times. I'm not sure if this was a problem due to the version of the movie that I had, or if it was actually how the film was made. I had to rely on the subtitles for movie, because of audio reasons, and also because the characters were speaking in a local dialect.
Overall
Overall, this was an interesting movie. Out of Zhang Yimou's older movies, I've watched Raise the Red Lantern. I like that both of these movies have a stark and almost jarring ending, not for the shock value, but because of how these endings comment on the story up until then. I would recommend this movie, but it may take a little getting used to for those who have no impression of rural China.
Story
The story is simple. Qiu Ju's husband Wan Qinglai was kicked in the groin by the town's "chief." Qiu Ju went to the local police to get justice and was awarded $200 to be paid by the chief. Qiu Ju really wanted an apology but the local police chief tried to convince her that this was for the best. The chief threw the money up in the air as an insult and Qiu Ju got angry and left without the money. The police tried to appease Qiu Ju by buying them some small gifts on behalf of the chief, but Qiu Ju wanted the personal apology.
Qiu Ju then went to the district police who was in the city. They spent some time getting accustomed to the pace of the city. The district police upped the damages to $250. While Wan Qinglai was willing to take the money, Qiu Ju still wanted the apology. Qiu Ju was recommended a lawyer from the district police officer. However, the lawsuit was unsuccessful. Qiu Ju then appealed to a higher court. As part of the court proceedings, Wan Qinglai had to undergo an X-ray.
Qiu Ju then went into labour, but due to complications, had to be sent to the hospital. The town chief, with the help of other men, carried her to the local hospital. When the baby turned one month, Qiu Ju invited the town chief over as a thank you for helping their family. The town chief didn't want to come, but Qiu Ju was adamant that he came.
However, during the one month celebration, the local police came to the celebration to tell Qiu Ju and Wan Qinglai that the X-ray showed that Wan Qinglai had actually broken a rib when he was kicked, which changed the situation, and thus the town chief was arrested and jailed for 15 days for assault. Qiu Ju tried to stop the police car that was to take the town chief away, but was unsuccessful.
The movie didn't end the way I thought it would. Initially, I thought the story was mostly about the unjust nature of bureaucracy, but I think what the final scene really made me think about was how the court system failed to match plaintiffs with damages that were meaningful to them. Throughout the movie, the town chief was willing to give money, but was unwilling to give an apology. In a way, money was allowing immoral people to get away with their actions by making it go away with money.
I think Qiu Ju still wanted her apology in the end of the film, but she saw the one month celebration as a thank you to the town chief for helping them with the birth of their son, which was separate from the fight with Wan Qinglai. She didn't care about the town chief getting incarcerated, she wanted him to own up to his wrongdoings. I think this also raises the question of whether incarceration is rehabilitation.
Characters
Qiu Ju as the big star in this movie. To her, money didn't mean much. She and her family lived a tough life, but she didn't mind it. She didn't care for the town chief's money either, especially when he flung it around in an insulting and condescending way. To her, she wanted the apology and admittance of wrongdoing, so much that she'd gotten into an argument with her husband when she headed off to the city to find the lawyer. In the end, her feelings didn't change. She was thankful to the town chief for helping her during her birth, but she still felt that he owed her husband an apology for his violence.
Wan Qinglai just wanted things to be smoothed over. He was willing to take the money as compensation for the town chief kicking him. He probably didn't like that Qiu Ju was causing a big ruckus around town with escalating their case, especially after he'd healed. That being said, I think he was still a family man. He got angry at Qiu Ju going off to the city again, but he was worried about her coming home late when the car broke down.
The town chief was kind of a douche because he condescended Qiu Ju and implied that they were only after his money, which Qiu Ju took offense at. After he helped Qiu Ju during childbirth, and Qiu Ju came over to personally invite him to the baby's one month celebration, I think he started to realize that Qiu Ju was a reasonable person capable of recognizing when others have helped her. He didn't want to go to the celebration at first, but I think after the personal visit, he realized that he could take steps towards mending the relationship. However, he was arrested right before he was to leave on charges of assault.
Other
Of course the topic of the justice system was a big topic in this movie.
I enjoyed watching the rural lifestyles that were portrayed in this period of China. First of all, we saw how the people living in the countryside lived very conservatively, relying on mostly manpower when working and travelling.
When Qiu Ju and her sister in law got to the city, it was clear that they were experiencing culture shock. Other than the biker who overcharged them, however, it was nice that many other people in the city gave them pointers, seeing as how they were unfamiliar with the city. Such people included the woman by the bikes who told Qiu Ju and her sister in law that they'd been overcharged, the innkeeper, district police officer Yan, and the lawyer Wu.
It seemed like many of the people on set were not actually extras, but in fact, actual people who were in the area for legitimate reasons. That, or the extras were just acting very convincingly. In any case, I thought that the way that scenes were shot were very realistic because we saw people going about doing their own things, including Qiu Ju and the characters of this movie.
Because there was so much going on in the background in many scenes, I found it difficult to hear the characters speaking at times. I'm not sure if this was a problem due to the version of the movie that I had, or if it was actually how the film was made. I had to rely on the subtitles for movie, because of audio reasons, and also because the characters were speaking in a local dialect.
Overall
Overall, this was an interesting movie. Out of Zhang Yimou's older movies, I've watched Raise the Red Lantern. I like that both of these movies have a stark and almost jarring ending, not for the shock value, but because of how these endings comment on the story up until then. I would recommend this movie, but it may take a little getting used to for those who have no impression of rural China.