Wangliang’s Ideal

Colour, HD CAM
China, 2010, 119 min
EP – European premiere
Section: Forum of Independents

Synopsis

Summer 2009, a mountain village in southern China. Although a simple and honest butcher named Wang Liang has been living with his wife Li Qiao for several months, they have yet to consummate their marriage. Young Li Qiao is more interested in her university entrance exam than in sex because if she gets pregnant her dream of studying will be lost. Wang Liang can no longer bear the situation but Li Qiao is adamant. She moves to the city to try to start a new life, but her husband refuses to accept her decision.... Director and screenwriter Xiongjie Gao has shot a picture about two ordinary people’s unfulfilled ideals, a reality shared to a certain extent by numerous inhabitants of contemporary China. Told in the style of an old ballad, the story shows the hardships of living in a rapidly developing country. The headlong urbanization is a tempting opportunity for many but also a danger because the dreams it offers don’t always come to fruition.

About the director

 Xiongjie Gao is a writer and director. He teaches film and television education at university, and many exceptional writers and directors have appeared in China today thanks in part to his contribution. Xiongjie Gao himself has only recently become an independent director. Wangliang’s Ideal screened at festivals in Pusan, Hong Kong, and Beijing. The director said about his protagonists: "Li Qiao is not really indifferent, and Wang Liang not really incapable. They are paying the price for the [loss] of conscience in the process of urbanization.” He dedicated his story to "those ordinary people who [have] been struggling with the weakest voice and strongest desires. […] I hope that more people in the world can watch the film and that more attention can be paid to those who are less fortunate and more easily forgotten.”