The Happy bachelors = Kuai le de dan shen han

The story takes place in the early 1980s. Ms Ding has newly arrived at a ship factory, and she will be the night school teacher there. Her students are a group of bachelors who are attracted by Ding’s beauty but have little interest in her class. They feel ashamed to be taught by such a young lady and believe that they know more than her. However, it proves that they are wrong at work. Workshop leader, Shi Qilong falls in love with Ding and begins to study hard. He seeks help from his friend, Liu Tie, who has been avoiding Ding since she came here. Ding later learns that Liu Tie is her childhood friend, who she has lost contact for years. It turns out that Ding is from a well-off family and her parents were persecuted during the Cultural Revolution. Ding was adopted by Liu’s mum and the two grew up together and liked each other. But after the Cultural Revolutionary, Ding went to university and her parents, without letting their daughter know, told Liu to stop contacting their daughter. Shi learned about their story and encouraged Liu to chase for love. Ding and Liu are finally together and Shi is still a happy bachelor.

This was a popular film in the mid-1980s. Apart from an interesting storyline, the film shows the changed social status of Chinese intellectuals in the 1980s. During the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), a lot of intellectuals were persecuted and sent to the countryside to be “re-educated” by the peasants. After Deng Xiaoping came to power in the late 1970s, Chinese universities were re-opened to take students, and people started to understand the importance of knowledge. The theme song of the film was popular as well in the mid-1980s. (3 stars - Yuxing Zhou; December 16, 2010)