''Father'' () is a 2000

Chinese film The cinema of China is one of three distinct historical threads of Chinese-language cinema together with the cinema of Hong Kong and the cinema of Taiwan. Cinema was introduced in China in 1896 and the first Chinese film, '' Dingjun Mountain'' ...

directed by the writer

Wang Shuo Wang Shuo (, born August 23, 1958) is a Chinese author, director, actor, and cultural icon. He has written over 20 novels, television series and movies. His work has been translated into Japanese, Spanish, French, English, Italian, Hindi, and ...

. To date, it is Wang's first and only directorial effort. The film is based on Wang's own novel, ''Wo Shi Ni Baba'' (English: ''I Am Your Father''). Despite being partially backed by the state-run Beijing Film Studio, ''Father'' suffered from years of bureaucratic red tape due to being seen as an interpretation of as deconstructing authority in China. Made in 1996, the film was not screened until 2000, when it surreptitiously premiered at the 2000

Locarno International Film Festival The Locarno Film Festival is an annual film festival, held every August in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narrative, documentary, ...

. The film stars director Feng Xiaogang, who also helped adapt Wang's novel for the screen.

Plot

''Father'' documents the tumultuous relationship between a widowed father, Ma Lisheng, and his school-age son, Ma Che. Though he works as a low-level party functionary during the day, he finds his greatest challenges in the raising of a son on his own. Alternating between trying to bond with his son (even getting drunk with him), and verbally accosting him, Ma is at a loss. One day the son decides that the best way for his father to stop harassing him, will be to find him a new wife, which he finds in the form of the mother of a school friend, Qing Huaiyuan.

Cast

Feng Xiaogang Feng Xiaogang (; born 18 March 1958 in Beijing) is a Chinese film director, screenwriter, actor, producer and politician. He is well known in China as a highly successful commercial filmmaker whose comedy films do consistently well at the box of ...

as Ma Lisheng, a widowed single father living in an old courtyard home with his son, Ma Che. A popular actor and director, Feng Xiaogang also co-wrote the film and is Wang's business partner in the production company,

Beijing Good Dreams } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, which partially produced ''Father''. * Hu Xiaopei as Ma Che, Ma Lisheng's son. *

Xu Fan Xu Fan (, born 16 August 1967) is a Chinese actress and Asian Film Awards winner. She married film director Feng Xiaogang Feng Xiaogang (; born 18 March 1958 in Beijing) is a Chinese film director, screenwriter, actor, producer and politician ...

as Qi Huaiyuan, the mother of one of Ma Che's school friends. *

Qin Yan Qin Yan () (died March 2, 888Academia Sinica Academia Sinica (AS, la, 1=Academia Sinica, 3=Chinese Academy; ), headquartered in Nangang, Taipei, is the national academy of Taiwan. Founded in Nanking, the academy supports research activitie ...

as Xia Jingping. * Wang Weining as Xia Qing. *

Ye Qing Ye Qing (; born 13 November 1988) is a Chinese actress. She rose to fame after portraying Yu Tan in the television series historical television series ''Scarlet Heart'' (2011), which enjoyed the highest ratings in mainland China. Her film breakt ...

as Tie Jun, Qi Huaiyuan's daughter.

Reception

Never officially released in China, ''Father'' was not screened in the west until four years after its completion in February 1996. The film was smuggled into Switzerland for the

by the festival director

Marco Muller Marco may refer to: People * Marco (given name), people with the given name Marco * Marco (actor) (born 1977), South Korean model and actor * Georg Marco (1863–1923), Romanian chess player of German origin * Tomás Marco (born 1942), Spanish ...

, and would go on to win that festival's top prize, the Golden Leopard. The festival's jury chairman,

Naum Klejman Naum may refer to: People Given name *Saint Naum (c. 830–910), medieval Bulgarian writer and missionary * Naum (biblical figure) or Nahum, a minor prophet; or a figure mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus * Naum (metropolitan) (born 1961), Macedo ...

described Wang Shuo's film as "not only a very important film in the context of new cinema, in China and all over the world, it's also a film which gives a very human explanation of developing the societies in the world, it's universal." Many critics, however, gave only measured praise. Derek Elley of ''Variety'' wrote that the film's two-part structure (the drama of the father-son relationship versus the broader comedy of the romance between Ma Lingyuan and Qi Huaiyuan) left the film a "little uneven in tone...," ultimately "los ngits focus in the final reels."

References

External links

* *
''Father''
at the Chinese Movie Database {{DEFAULTSORT:Father (2000 Film) 2000 films 2000 comedy-drama films Films based on Chinese novels Golden Leopard winners 2000s Mandarin-language films 2000 directorial debut films Chinese comedy-drama films 2000s Chinese films