The Road = Lu

The Chinese word “lu” (which directly translates to “road”) means finding a way. The narrative involves a group of working class men and women in their twenties, who are each trying to find their way in life. Everyday activities and living conditions make up a great part of the narrative; we see people lining up for goods, their daily struggles of working long hours for minimal wages and the lack of control they have over their predicament. Qui-Hu is given the chance to run the wool factory that she works for. She recruits her group of friends to assist her. It proves to be a difficult endeavour, due to government policies and the scale of their operation (they are unable to compete with bigger, state-run companies). They describe their factory to a “broken bowl”, whereas state-run plants are “iron bowls”, but these individuals now wish to aim for a “golden bowl”. A successful business will be golden because it would be created by them (independent group effort).

Historical Background:
The bleak nature of the film, with its portrayal of the struggles of the working class is representative of the “socialist realist” form of art that is popular within communist states. Socialist realism often glorifies the roles of the poor: it is the basis for art, with a clear goal to educate and propagate communist ideology. Recurring shots of the weathered Great Wall symbolises the youth of the nation and the struggles faced by the country; as the film concludes, the characters have come to terms with their situation-like the great wall, people’s lives can be rebuilt with teamwork and become great again.

Researcher’s Comments:
A slow-paced narrative with too many threads of events and mundane details; the results of which is a film that is neither interesting or engaging.
(2 stars - Mary Chen; May 22, 2010)