1990? Seems longer than that.... It was such a depressing story, but one I thought was important for me to see, as I'd gone through a relationship with a woman whose parents came from China. She couldn't introduce me to them, and that was a small part of the relationship only lasting several months.

This film has a scene where the widow has to try to stop the death procession, to express her grief over losing her husband by trying to keep his body from reaching the graveyard, or else she'll lose face with his relatives and the town folk...and, that is literally spelled out for her as throwing herself in front of the caravan even if it means being run over by everyone in the parade, and picking herself up and doing again, over and over. It was hard to watch. I've often wondered if it was truly a custom in some particular area, or if it was at least true that the social structure was so rigid that she and her lover really couldn't move to a new town without drawing the ire of the new neighbors if they did. (I'm guessing it was true, but that that probably changed after a certain period during the industrialization).

I've enjoyed the few films I've seen, "Ju Dou," "Raise the Red Lantern," "The Joy Luck Club," and the YouTube documentary about Mark Henry Rowswell (Dashan) and the history of, "Cross-talk," form of theatrical comedy. (I also enjoy hearing news about current Chinese culture as broadcast on, "Democracy Now!"...which is quite different from news on corporate programming)