A couple purchases an eleven-year old girl who cannot walk, with the intention of using her to earn money through begging.
Reviews
Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!
Good story, Not enough for a whole film
The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.
By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.
"Little Moth" is an extraordinary film about the life of a little girl in emerging China. The performance of Zhao Huihui in the role of Xiao Ezi, is one of the most amazing performances by a child actress I have ever seen. From her first appearance in the film, Zhao projected a poetic insight into her circumstances which never flinched, no matter how horribly the truth manifested itself. The truth was relentless, and indifferent. Zhao Huihui, I speak to you from from my heart and from the comfort of my home in American. I extend my hand of friendship to you and to all of China. I do not think I will sleep tonight. I was so deeply moved by your performance, and all of your supporting actors. Thank you all for reminding us all of the simple necessity of compassion.
Luo Jiang and Guihua, a poor, middle-aged couple with few prospects, decide to buy an 11- year-old girl, Xiao Ezi (aka "Little Moth"), for $140 in rural China. Xiao Ezi's life is in peril, as she is forced to earn money for her new parents as a beggar while suffering from a blood disease that leaves her unable to walk. Her greedy adoptive father, Luo Jiang, refuses to buy her medicine, while Guihua's growing maternal affection wracks her with guilt. After a run-in with local extortionists, the three flee into the territory of the unsavory Mr. Yang, whose one-armed boy Xiao Chun is also forced to beg. Inevitably the grownups take turns taking advantage of each other, giving the children a rare opportunity to develop a protective bond with one another.With virtually no budget, a hand-held digital camera and a cast of non-professionals, Peng Tao turns the sordid street life of small town China into a chain-reaction tale of human cruelty and unforgettable suspense. LITTLE MOTH "melds the anger and storytelling scope of Dickens, the doc-influenced immediacy and sensitive gaze of the Dardenne brothers, and the best tendencies of recent Chinese cinema." (Robert Koehler, Variety).