In 1959, a group of intellectual “Rightists” from colleges and universities in Shenyang, and criminals from prisons, arrived in the desolate area of western Liaoning Province. They wanted to build a railway here for a mine. Taking the fate of Yin Shaoyao, a lecturer at Liaoning University, as its focus, this film records this group’s experience of being labelled as rightists, of “Reform through Labour”, of being starved, and killed. Their personal files reveal the details of their transformation: their personalities encouraged them to betray each other, incriminating materials were put in their files, and their political lives were destroyed. Ideological reformation killed their spirit, while physical labour and hunger destroyed their bodies. The film also records how people who resisted were suppressed and what happened to people’s humanity in this most cruel of environments.
Reviews
Highly Overrated But Still Good
It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.
Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.
It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.
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