StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...

The Story of Qiu Ju - Essay Example

Cite this document
Summary
The Story of Qiu Ju is a film directed by Zhang Yimou based on the novel The Wan Family's Lawsuit. The screenplay was written by Chen Yuan Bin, and it stars Chinese superstar Gong Li as the title character Wan Qiu Ju.
The story opens with the pregnant Qiu Ju, the wife of a chili farmer from Xigouzi, who brings her husband Qinglai, with the help of her sister-in-law Meizi, to a doctor to be treated for bruises and the swelling of his left testicle…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER91.7% of users find it useful
The Story of Qiu Ju
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "The Story of Qiu Ju"

Download file to see previous pages

In reaction, the chief beat Qinglai up and kicked him in the groin, thus causing the injuries. At first, Qiu Ju seeks an apology from the village chief for beating up her husband, reasoning that the act was not right. The chief refuses to give an apology because he believes that if he does, he will lose face. Qiu Ju, adamant that justice should be given to her husband, brings her case to their village public service bureau or PBS. The village PBS orders the chief to pay Qinlang 200 yuan to reimburse the medical expenses as well as wages lost to Qinlang while he is recovering from his injuries.

The chief shells out the money as ordered, but he refuses to make the apologies Qiu Ju requires. Qiu Ju becomes unhappy by the chief's refusal and brings the case to the district PBS. The district PBS issues the same decision, but the chief, while willing to pay the money, remains adamant about not giving the apology. Qiu Ju then brings the matter to the city PBS, then sues the village chief but loses the case. Still unfazed, Qiu Ju afterwards makes an appeal to the intermediary bureau. In the meantime, beset by the gossip being whispered in their community, Qinlang himself asks Qiu Ju to stop pursuing the matter and to just let it go.

While awaiting the result of the trial, Qiu Ju goes into labor and her condition becomes delicate. She receives assistance from the village chief himself in bringing her to the hospital, and this somehow heals the rift between herself and the chief. However, at the celebration of her newborn son's turning a month old, the chief is arrested by the police, and Qiu Ju fails to stop them.Basically, the film talks about the roundabout pursuit of justice in Maoist China. It is set in rural China, probably during the late 1970s or early 1980s, as hinted by the references to the one-child policy instituted in that country in 1979 (Wikipedia, 2002b).

Actual locations were used in filming the movie, and these locations depict mostly the poverty and squalor Chinese citizens, especially in the countryside, were subjected to during that time. The fact that the story is also set in the winter season only emphasizes how difficult living conditions were then.China at that time was still reeling from the effects of the Cultural Revolution (Wikipedia, 2002a). Economy is beginning to recover, at least from the viewpoint of the city folk, where buildings are well-planned and the roadways are paved.

Such is not the same in the countryside, however, and it is grueling to watch Qiu Ju travel on foot, by cart and by hitchhiking down the long and winding dirt roads with her swollen belly and with only her sister-in-law for a companion. These journeys to and from her village took a toll on her, eventually making her pregnancy and childbirth complicated and nearly costing Qiu Ju her life. These inaccessible roads, however, did not seem to hinder officials from the public service bureau from coming to Qiu Ju's village to investigate her case.

Entire families comprising of parents, grandparents and children live in two-room houses along with their pets, and perhaps livestock, bringing into question issues on health and hygiene. People from the countryside are distinguishable by their clothes: as depicted in the movie, they only

...Download file to see next pages Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“The Story of Qiu Ju Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words”, n.d.)
The Story of Qiu Ju Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words. Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/miscellaneous/1501440-the-story-of-qiu-ju
(The Story of Qiu Ju Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 Words)
The Story of Qiu Ju Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 Words. https://studentshare.org/miscellaneous/1501440-the-story-of-qiu-ju.
“The Story of Qiu Ju Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 Words”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/miscellaneous/1501440-the-story-of-qiu-ju.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF The Story of Qiu Ju

Records of the Historian by Sima Qian

History has always meant dates, events and people of significance arranged in the most boring and dry manner possible.... This is true of Western history, and in Chinese classical literature, while the style is more lyrical, it is still the chronological listing of important personages and what they did....
7 Pages (1750 words) Book Report/Review

Chinese Cinema

It told the story of Jiu'er, a poor girl who is sent by her parents into a pre-arranged marriage with a much older man.... The subject of this write-up is the internationally acclaimed Chinese director, Zhang Yimou.... The objective of this paper is to track the journey of the film maker, emphasizing on the way his cinematic vision has evolved over a period of 20 years....
9 Pages (2250 words) Case Study

The Main Themes of La Peste by Albert Camus

La Peste written by Albert Camus(1913-1960), is a story of the outbreak of the deadly epidemic, in the Algerian town of Oran in N.... frica.... he population, dominated by the bourgeois, the business class, ignores signs of danger at first until many of their own class fall prey to the disease....
10 Pages (2500 words) Essay

Zhang Yi Mou film-makers

The Story of Qiu Ju", filmed in 1992, is another fascinating picture about a Chinese woman.... At the same time, the story of the peasant woman investigates different moral issues in a bureaucratic society.... For qiu ju this incident is an extreme example of power abuse, so she can only be appeased by an apology, which she cannot obtain.... In this situation, even despite being pregnant, qiu ju goes to town to settle her pressing issue with authorities there....
7 Pages (1750 words) Movie Review

The Relationship between Sexuality and Suffering

What is most important to Genet, however, is not a simple recounting of his life story, but rather the elaboration of his aesthetic preoccupations.... Journal du voleur is the closest Genet came to writing a traditional autobiography.... Though his other novels incorporate names from the author's life experience, the focus of these novels is to create mythical characters out of names pulled from Genet's reality....
11 Pages (2750 words) Essay

Common Words to Warn the World

the story basically revolves around two prominent characters, a courtesan or prostitute named Mei Du and a young and privileged man named Jia Li.... All through the story we see that money is the main key factor and it changes the course of the story just when we see that all seems to be perfect.... In the story we see that Du is a very famous courtesan.... So far in the story we see that money had a very potential role to play in the development of a love relationship....
11 Pages (2750 words) Book Report/Review

Comparing and Contrasting Not One Less and Qui Ju Movies

Qui ju is another movie by the same director and based on a novel called the Wan Family's Lawsuit (Gong, Liu and Yang).... The film is about a poor woman called Qui ju who was pregnant when his husband got severely beaten up by one of the chiefs of the village over a very petty issue.... Qui ju then sets out to the city to find justice for her husband.... However, in the second film, Qui ju, the harsh realities of life for the rural population of China are depicted in quite a comical way....
3 Pages (750 words) Essay

Yimou Zhang Films

This is especially evidenced in his popular films such as Red Dress (the story of Qui Ju), Red Silk, Red Sorghum (1993), and Red Lantern (Raise the Red Lantern) (2003).... This is especiallyevidenced in his popular films such as Red Dress (the story of Qui Ju), Red Silk, Red Sorghum (1993), and Red Lantern (Raise the Red Lantern) (2003).... the story of this film is based on the history of the attempt to assassinate the King of Qin who was able to unite china but was highly criticized due to his use of excessive of and autocratic form of leadership....
2 Pages (500 words) Essay
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us