Fifth-generation director Peng Xiaolian (Zhang Yimou’s classmate at the Beijing Film Academy), spent many years filming the city – as is evidenced in Shanghai Story, Shanghai Women and Once upon a time in Shanghai. Completed in 2003, the film was released for the 2005 mid-Autumn Festival, a favorable time for family reunion, a topic addressed in Peng’s tenth film. The story is thus: The children of a former bourgeois family gather in their former French concession home to take care of their old mother. Many generations cohabit and collide; each of them carrying their own burden – teen granddaughter’s condoms, daughter’s divorce aftermath, son’s lousy marriage...
Peng elegantly displays the city, while portraying a touching family tale. The movie is an audio-visual treat with excellent production, innovative cinematography and smart sound design. Shanghai Story won numerous domestic and international accolades last year – and took home four Golden Rooster Awards, the Chinese equivalent to the Academy Awards.
Massway/Tomson Films

(c) that's Shanghai Magazine
Chief editor: Steven Crane
October 2005 issue