''South of the Clouds'' is a 2004 Chinese film and the second film directed by the writer
Zhu Wen
Emperor Taizu of Later Liang (), personal name Zhu Quanzhong () (December 5, 852 – July 18, 912), né Zhu Wen (), name later changed to Zhu Huang (), nickname Zhu San (朱三, literally, "the third Zhu"), was a Chinese military general, mona ...
. The film stands in stark contrast to Zhu's previous film. In terms of production, ''South of the Clouds'' received the cooperation of the state apparatus unlike 2001's ''
Seafood'' which was an underground production shot on digital hand-held cameras. In terms of story, the transgressive tale of a prostitute and a policeman in ''Seafood'' is a far cry from ''South of the Clouds gentle tale of a retiree who fulfills a lifelong desire to travel to the southern province of
Yunnan
Yunnan , () is a landlocked province in the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the C ...
(literally "South of the Clouds").
''South of the Clouds'' stars Li Xuejian as the protagonist, Xu Daqin, and features a cameo by director
Tian Zhuangzhuang
Tian Zhuangzhuang (; born April 1952 in Beijing) is a Chinese film director, producer and actor.
Tian was born to an influential actor and actress in China. Following a short stint in the military, Tian began his artistic career first as an am ...
as the police chief in a small town in Yunnan. It was produced by
China Film Assist, an independent production company in China; ''South of the Clouds'' was the company's first production.
Background
''South of the Clouds'' was, at heart, an attempt by Zhu Wen to capture the image and beauty of Yunnan that he had experienced upon his first visit to the province.
[ Beyond that, however, the film was an opportunity for Zhu to present his work to his home country. Following the completion of ''Seafood'', Zhu "wanted to make something that ecould show to isparents and...friends in China.][ Unlike ''Seafood'', ''South of the Clouds'' did not encounter any issues with the state censors, in part because the film strictly followed all the relevant regulations.][
]
Awards and nominations
''South of the Clouds'' like many Chinese art films was screened at numerous film festivals around the world. It succeeded in winning a FIPRESCI prize and the Firebird Award for New Cinema at the 28th Hong Kong International Film Festival
The Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF), is one of Asia’s oldest international film festivals. Founded in 1976, the festival features different movies, filmmakers from different countries in Hong Kong.
HKIFF screens around 230 films ...
. The film also won a NETPAC The Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema (NETPAC) is a worldwide organization of 29 member countries. It was created as the result of a conference on Asian cinema organized by Cinemaya, the Asian Film Quarterly, in New Delhi in 1990 at the ins ...
award at the Berlin International Film Festival
The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the fest ...
in 2004.
See also
* Mosuo
The Mosuo (; also spelled Moso, Mosso or Musuo), often called the Naxi among themselves, are a small ethnic group living in China's Yunnan and Sichuan provinces, close to the border with Tibet. Consisting of a population of approximately 40,000, ...
- a matriarchal ethnic enclave in Yunnan, featured prominently in the film.
References
External links
*
*
2004 films
2004 drama films
2000s Mandarin-language films
Films set in Yunnan
Films directed by Zhu Wen
Chinese drama films
{{China-film-stub