A Fool
Across Asia • 1h 36m
Directed by Jianbin Chen • Drama • With Jianbin Chen, Jiang Qinqin, Wang Xuebing, Jin Shijia • 2014 • 97 minutes
Based on Hu Xuewen's novella "Running Moonlight", a Chinese shepherd tries to enlist help in getting his son released from prison; when a wandering stranger enters his life, diverting his focus and creating chaos with his plans.
“A shepherd (Jianbin) whose son has been arrested turns to a local gangster (Wang Xuebing of Black Coal, Thin Ice) for help, though this effort is complicated by a simpleminded tramp to whom the protagonist showed a speck of kindness at the outset. At first the shepherd is annoyed by the tramp’s attachment to him and his Muslim wife, but eventually he realizes that the fool has more decency than most people he knows, including the public officials who don’t seem to care if the disadvantaged live or die.” —Leah Pickett, Chicago Reader
Up Next in Across Asia
-
Tharlo
Directed by Pema Tseden • Drama • With Jinpa, Shide Nyima, Tsemdo Thar • 2015 • 123 minutes
'Renowned Tibetan filmmaker Pema Tseden returns with his profoundly moving new feature [adapted from his own novella] about a Tibetan shepherd named Tharlo. Visiting a Tibetan town in Qinghai province to ...
-
The Search
Directed by Pema Tseden • Drama • With Zong Zhi, Manla Jiepu, Dobe Dorje, Drolma Gyab, Lumo Tso • 2013 • 105 minutes
A director, his assistant, and a businessman drive through the Amdo region of Tibet, scouring small villages to find actors for their adaptation of the namthar of Drime Kunden, an...
-
Mrs. B., A North Korean Woman
Directed by Jero Yun • Documentary • 2016 • 71 minutes
"There are five kinds of families that buy us," says Mrs. B over dinner and drinks with fellow North Korean exiles living in China. "The first type, either the father or the mother is missing and the son can't get married. Then there are the...
