THE GOLDEN ERA

Manchurian essayist and novelist Xiao Hong was one of the most radical Chinese female writers of the early 20th century. Through the seismic shift from dynastic imperial rule to a modern state, Hong survives poverty, family chaos, the Japanese invasion in the 1930s, and post-war trauma.

Xiao Hong became a literary giant by conveying the struggles of working class Manchuria in a lyrical blend of fiction and nonfiction. Ann Hui takes a similarly multifaceted approach, introducing self-reflexive character portraits to the film’s sprawling story to paint a rich, insightful biopic.