Seventeen Years
(DVD)
DIRECTED BY - Yuan Zhang
Living together in a claustrophobic home in a rundown part of Tianjin, China, stepsisters Tao Lan (Lin Liu) and Yu Xiaoquin (Yun Li) are forced to share everything, yet they couldn't have less in common. Tao Lan is a free spirit who is proud of her working-class roots, while studious Yu Xiaoquin is attractive and sophisticated; their antagonism is heightened by favoritism from their parents. When Yu Xiaoquin frames Tao Lan for something she didn't do, a fight between the girls has tragic results, and Tao Lan is forced to pay the price. Released from prison 17 years later to spend the New Year with her family, the now-grown Tao Lan finds herself unable to cope with a much-changed outside world. She befriends a female prison guard when her family fails to pick her up, and the two embark upon a journey to reunite the prisoner with her estranged parents. Directed by the acclaimed sixth-generation Chinese auteur Zhang Yuan (EAST PALACE, WEST PALACE), SEVENTEEN YEARS is both a scathing indictment of the political and penal system in China, and a moving depiction of a poor family fraught by tragedy, circumstance, and violence.
GENRES - drama
Film Info
RUNTIME - 85 minutes
RATING - Not Rated
YEAR - 1999
FORMAT - DVD Region 1
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FESTIVALS
- Fajr Film Festival 2001 (Tehran, Iran)
- Jakarta International Film Festival 2000 (Jakarta, Indonesia)
- Karlovy Vary International Film Festival 2000 (Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic)
- Singapore International Film Festival 2000 (Singapore)
- Gijon International Film Festival 1999 (Gijon, Spain)
- Mar del Plata International Film Festival 1999 (Mar del Plata, Argentina)
- Venice International Film Festival 1999 (Venice, Italy)
- Vienna International Film Festival 1999 (Vienna, Austria)
Awards
- Best Asian Actress (Winner)
2000 Singapore International Film Festival (Singapore) - Best Asian Director (Winner)
2000 Singapore International Film Festival (Singapore) - Best Asian Feature Film (Nominee)
2000 Singapore International Film Festival (Singapore) - Best Direc (Winner)
1999 Gijon International Film Festival (Gijon, Spain) - Children and Cinema Award (Winner)
1999 Venice International Film Festival (Venice, Italy) - Crystal Simorgh, International Competition: Best Screenplay (Winner)
2001 Fajr Film Festival (Tehran, Iran)