In The Heat of the Sun  (1994)

North American Premiere of Digital Restoration

In the Heat of the Sun (Yangguang canlan de rizi) (China, 1994)

Directed by Jiang Wen.

Already one of China’s biggest stars, Jiang Wen made his impressive directorial debut with this adaptation of hooligan writer Wang Shuo’s coming-of-age tale of the Cultural Revolution.  Left behind in Beijing when their parents are ordered to the countryside, Ma Xiaojun, his gang of friends and the older girl they flock around experience the period as a time of youthful freedom.  Narrated in flashback, the story’s wry nostalgia distinguishes it from both revolutionary and more harrowing filmic depictions of the era.

Producer: Er Yong, Guo Youliang, An-chin Hsu, Po Ki, Wang Zhang.  Based on a novel by Wang Shuo.  Screenwriter: Jiang Wen, Wang Shuo.  Cinematographer: Gu Changwei.  Editor: Zhou Ying. Cast: Xia Yu, Ning Jing, Geng Le, Tao Hong, Jiang Wen.

DCP, color, in Mandarin with English subtitles, 134 min.