TIFF’s A Century of Chinese Cinema Review: The Story of Qiu Ju (1992) - Essential Viewing

Cast: Li Gong, Peiqi Liu, Liuchun Yang
Director: Zhang Yimou
Country:China | Hong Kong
Genre: Comedy | Drama

Editor’s Notes: The following review is part of our coverage for TIFF’s A Century of Chinese Cinema which runs from June 5th to August 11th at TIFF Bell Lightbox. For more information of this unprecedented film series visit http://tiff.net/century and follow TIFF on Twitter at @TIFF_NET.

All she wanted was an apology.  That’s all.  In master filmmaker Zhang Yimou’s The Story of Qiu Ju (1992), he tells the story of a woman who feels she and her family were wronged when the village chief kicked her husband in the crotch, causing injury, and refused to apologize.  Qiu Ju (Gong Li) approaches the Chief (Kesheng Lei) for this apology but he refuses.  Her husband, Quinglai (Peiqi Liu) and the Chief got into an argument and the Chief kicked him.

Qiu Ju thinks this is wrong of the Chief and goes to town with her sister-in-law Meizi (Liuchun Yang) on foot in the winter to ask the next level of government for a ruling.  Oh, and Qiu Ju is about six months pregnant.  When she gets a monetary settlement instead of the apology, she goes to the city for a review of the judgment.  The judgment stands, so she goes higher then eventually files a law suit.  All she wants is an apology and no one seems to understand this.  Eventually things spiral out of control and she gets a result she did not expect or want.

Yimou crafts this simple story in an elegant but simple way.  He emphasizes the differences between country life and city life and the notions of justice carried by both sets of thinking.

Yimou crafts this simple story in an elegant but simple way.  He emphasizes the differences between country life and city life and the notions of justice carried by both sets of thinking.  He paints Qiu Ju to be just as stubborn as the Chief, but we identify with Qiu Ju and are on her side the whole way through.  She is determined to see “the right thing” is done.  The interesting thing is that the officials along the way think that’s what they are doing.   It’s as much a film about culture clash as it is about honor and peaceful coexistence.

On one hand, The Story of Qiu Ju is a drama about a relentless woman who seeks justice at any cost, well beyond what her husband (who was the one wronged) wants.  He’s fine with taking the original judgment and the money and carrying on.  But she wants justice, an apology, so badly that she’ll go all the way to the city while pregnant to see it done.  She is devastated each time the verdict doesn’t come out the way she wants it to, and even more distraught when something she truly didn’t intend upon happens to the Chief, after he saved her life while she was in childbirth.

On the other hand, it’s a light comedy.  When looking at Qiu Ju’s determination at getting a simple apology from a stubborn man, the result is kind of comical.  She receives a judgment, and upon deciding that she doesn’t like it, because it’s money and not an apology, she just packs up and heads off to the next largest area to take her case to the next highest authority.  One moment laughing and smiling with her husband, then when the judgment is delivered, taking off her ‘country coat’ (she was told in the city that she and Meizi look like they are from the country and are therefore easy marks for fraudsters) and puts on her ‘city coat’ and sets off with Meizi again.  She becomes known all around, not just in her town but all over, because of her attitude.  She often gets rides (even from the director of the city offices) and makes friends wherever she goes.  All she wants is an apology and all the government wants to give her is money.

The Story of Qiu Ju also has another huge asset working in its favor: Gong Li.  Her typical beauty is played down for the sake of fitting into the role of a poor (but never starving or wanting) country girl who just wants simplicity.

Yimou is a master at so many styles of filmmaking.  He can direct a small comedy/drama like this one along with To Live (1994) and Happy Times (2000), large scale dramas like the magnificent Raise the Red Lantern (1991) and even martial arts films like the brilliant Hero (2002) and the less than stellar House of Flying Daggers (2004) and The Curse of the Golden Flower (2006).  He is adept at all of these because he sees the heart of the story and goes after it, often with stunning visuals and remarkable characters.  Everything he makes, even the films that don’t turn out so well, are worth watching because of the detail and care he pours into the making of them.  He never goes halfway and for that, even his bad movies are better than many other directors’ best efforts.

The Story of Qiu Ju also has another huge asset working in its favor: Gong Li.  Her typical beauty is played down for the sake of fitting into the role of a poor (but never starving or wanting) country girl who just wants simplicity.  She is often icy because she is consumed with her one and only task of getting justice for the wrong visited upon her husband.  It’s a matter of pride and honor for her, and she never waivers.  She holds fast and just as soon as she needs to, packs up and goes back out in the winter, nearing childbirth, and pursues her goal.  She also wonderfully conveys Qiu Ju’s confusion over matters of the law and what her next steps should be.  She freely takes advice and will do anything anyone says in order to help her case and get what she wants.  The only time she breaks is right at the end when the events that have been set in motion come to a disastrous end.  One way of looking at it is that the whole thing is her fault for not accepting the judgment of the original officer (a friend to her husband) and going about her business, but it’s also just as much if not more the Chief’s fault for knowing that all she wanted was for him to apologize and refusing to do so.  She is an unstoppable force, and the Chief is an immovable object and this is what happens when they collide.

The Story of Qiu Ju is a simple and small masterpiece.  It is quiet, and while not normally laugh out loud (though there are a couple spots that can happen) it is still a charming and funny film.  Qiu Ju is a woman you don’t want to upset because she will stop at nothing to get what she feels is justice.  Yimou makes no mistakes in this film and has created a very unexpected and wonderful film.

The following two tabs change content below.

• Bio
• Latest Posts

Doug Heller

Sr. Staff Film Critic

I believe film occupies a rare place as art, entertainment, historical records and pure joy. I love all films, good and bad, from every time period with an affinity to Classical Hollywood in general, but samurai, sci-fi and noir specifically. My BA is in Film Studies from Pitt and my MA is in Education. My goal is to be able to ignite a love of film in others that is similar to my own.

Latest posts by Doug Heller (see all)

• Review: Non-Stop (2014) - March 2, 2014
• Review: Pompeii (2014) - February 24, 2014
• Martin Scorsese Presents: Masterpieces of Polish Cinema Review: To Kill This Love (1972) - February 17, 2014