11 Flowers (2011/First
Run Features DVD)
Picture: B- Sound: C Extras: D Film: B
Wang is
an 11 year old boy living with his family in a remote village of China
during the last days of the cultural revolution. Life is tough, but they do what they can to
make ends meet. When Wang is selected to
be the gym leader of daily gymnastics, their family makes certain sacrifices to
make sure he can wear a clean white shirt, but soon his new white shirt gets
him involved with a wound man who changes the view of the young boy forever...
Wang
Xiaoshuan’s 11 Flowers (2011) takes
place in a poor village of Guizhou province as a young boy is given the
opportunity to stand out from the rest of the crowd, to be a leader for his
daily school gymnastics, but being poor, his family scrapes by to dress him in
a new white shirt for the family honor. Suddenly,
the young boy meet a wounded man one day and is forced to give him his shirt to
stop his bleeding. The wounded man turns
out to be on the run from factory law for opposing the system and for the
murder of another man who raped his sister. Wang has a choice help or to tell adults about
this 'criminal', but either way he must explain his family why lost
shirt....
This
movie reminds me a lot of Stand By Me,
the story of 4 young boys and his friends who suddenly get pulled into the
adult world. They have the choice to
make difference, and their choices affect the difference between life and death
a man. As they loses their innocence,
they are caught between their morals and conforming to society's rules and
should they get involved at the risk of being outcast. The human nature is shown, to stand up for
human rights or to hide behind ignorance and safety of society.
The
anamorphically enhanced picture is decent here, but the lossy Dolby Digital 2.0
Stereo is quiet, lite and only goes so far.
There are no extras.
- Ricky Chiang
