LIVING THE LAND

In rural China, a farming community hews to tradition even as it feels the intractable pull of industrialization. Gorgeously photographed, director Huo Meng’s film is so perfectly, minutely observed that it often carries the feel of a documentary—or, more specifically, of real life—rather than a narrative film. That’s not to say there’s no artistry here; quite the opposite, in fact. In Meng’s carefully paced, achingly precise story, we see how these hardworking people react to the seasons, to various calamities, and to each other. The land is beautiful, but life isn’t easy—Chuang, our 10-year-old POV character, sees his share of hardship and funerals, even as he pines to reunite with his family in the city (they left him behind because of one-child rules in China in the ’90s.) The inevitable specter of modernity hovers over everyone, though each generation sees it differently—some as a scourge, others as a temptation. ~SM