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| Two Great Sheep | |||
"When a peasant couple in rural China inherit a pair of prized sheep, their simple lives devolve into a series of nonstop crises brought on by the high-maintenance beasts. Liu Hao’s neorealist allegory is a slim but potent disquisition on ownership and (appropriately for China) capitalist anxiety. The director frequently films his characters scurrying ant-like across the barren, wind-scarred landscape — a possible nod to Abbas Kiarostami, and a coup for cinematographer Li Bingquiang." – David Ng, Village Voice "In Two Great Sheep, commerce comes to a Chinese countryside in the form of two exotic animals given to an impoverished farmer and his wife. Even if nothing grows in this breathtaking but barren domain of the world for the wind to blow through, Liu Hao’s transcendental study of landscape still begs comparisons to Abbas Kiarostami’s Through the Olive Trees and The Wind Will Carry Us. At first, the local townspeople resent Deshan (Sun Yunkun) and his wife (Jiang Zhikun) for their sheep: “You just sit there and watch the money roll in,” someone says, a ludicrous declaration considering the amount of work it takes to care for the animals, which the local government hopes to breed and profit from their wool. But soon others begin to chip in and Two Great Sheep reveals itself as a metaphor for collectivism, except I’m not exactly sure if Hao is for or against Bolshevism. Distant and inexplicably irascible, the government officials in the film still look to help the people of the region, but when their little experiment in capitalism fails, they repossess the sheep, ignoring Deshan and his wife’s very personal connection to these animals they’ve taken into their home. The sheep are nowhere near as finicky as the couple that cares for them nor are they as uncompromising as the rocky topography around them, two points the film makes very early on. The final shot is a stunner (snow clings to the rocks and twigs of a distant landscape like confectioner’s sugar)." – Ed Gonzalez, Slant Magazine "If the villagers can successfully breed the sheep in the harsh climate, badly needed investment money for a livestock company will follow. The mayor puts Zhao in charge of the sheep, saying the village’s future depends on him. Problems follow … Zhao and wife pamper the critters, moving them into their bedroom, setting up a luxury pen and meeting their dietary needs. Tightly edited, with no arty dawdling, pic homes in on the stratified nature of Chinese rural society — as responsibility is passed down the line from official to official — in a straight-faced, ironic way. What sets the film apart from more elaborate yarns on local bureaucracy, such as Zhang Yimou’s The Story of Qiuzhu, is a complete lack of bitterness or despair. At every level, people discharge their duties, as that is how society functions for the greater good; if the buck stops with Zhao, then so be it. However, a cheeky coda suggests that peasant wiles will always triumph." – Derek Elley, Variety |
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| Hao da yei dui yang, China 2004 | |||
Director: Lui Hao With: Sun Yun-kun, Jiang Zhi-kun, Yang Zuo-jiu, Chen Dao-xian, Chen Da-jiang, Meng Xing-lan, Zhao Sheng-lin, Yang Qing-xue, Cao Li, Tao Ze-xuan, Chi Bin, Li Zheng-yun, Gui Sheng-ping 100 mins, DV (16:9) In Mandarin, with English subtitles PG cert Tekapo Film Society |
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