

Director: Wang Quan An
Cast: Yu Nan, Bater, Sen Ge

This film garnered the Golden Bear at Berlin International Film Festival 2007.

Synopsis
The film tells the story of Tuya whose husband was injured when he tried to dig a well. Although she was initially reluctant to divorce and re-marry, she soon faced the risk of hurting her backbone permanently if she persisted in handling all demanding chores of the family. Eventually, she gave in to her husband's request to divorce and re-marry, but her condition to the proposal was -- her ex-husband had to stay with them and be taken care of as well ...

My Thoughts

I particularly like three aspects of the film ... 

-- THE LINES (realism and humor).
As the film does not thrive on a convoluted plot nor an intense pacing, we are allowed to live life like the herders do. I particularly like the realism in the lines delivered. They are not crafted to philosophize but they speak much of human relationships in real life ... say, the conversation btw the couple, the conversation btw the kid and his mum, or the neighbor, etc ...

In particular, I would like to highlight (because few reviews mentioned it) ... I actually thought it is rather amusing to watch the neighbor (Sen Ge) in action ... ha ha ha ... you can't help but chuckle at the scenes whereby he appeared ... not slapstick humor, not those hearty laughters, but it might just bring about a smile or a chuckle ... 

-- THOUGHTS ABOUT LIFE. 
If one is willing to scrutinize beyond the obvious plot of Tuya scouting for a new husband, I thought lots of issues are being raised
... about the love of life (especially)
... the spirit of survival
... the meaning of marriage
... the future of family
etc etc etc

-- THE ENDING. 
I think the film ends very well, hinting at the complextity and irony in life. Often, hope and helplessness are intricately intertwined ... When an old problem is seemingly successfully resolved, we are confronted with an entire set of different problems that come forth with the resolution and an uncertain future ... that is LIFE ...


Conclusion
Highly recommended. A deceptively simple film that chronicles and celebrates life ... Even though audience do feel the underlying helplessness at times, the film never loses its sense of humanity, hope and even humor!