128 of 1001 Movies: The Blue Kite (1993)

It's true as the poster says, this move is banned in China, and along with that the director was banned from working for several years. ZhuangZhuang Tian wanted to make sure his work saw the public though, so he had it smuggled to Japan where they then began to put the film together. Though this movie isn't the most exciting movie to watch, the fact that so much was put into making sure it got to the screen shows the passion there was for the movie, and the important story it tells. It takes a little bit of researching China's history before watching, but once you have a little bit of knowledge of what was happening in the 1950s the story is a lot clearer including why the character's lives change so much.

It's 1953 in Beijing and Chen and Lin have just married shortly after the Communist Party has began in China. There lives are changed by the visits from the neighborhood committee, Mao's photograph that hangs in their house, and the loud speak announcements that come through their neighborhood. Chen and Lin continue on with their new lives, and begin a family. The Party continues to grow though after Teitou's birth.


This movie does really capture the hardships of one family that didn't fall into following The Party, and it shows how this consequence began to eat away at their lives. At the beginning you see a happy couple who are excited to be with one another, and then by the end you see the third man she has married trying to keep his own bad standings with The Party from being a consequence she has to live with. At the center of this all is a young boy who you can tell is having an experience that is shaping him to be a questionable character. The one thing about him you see that may be the most important value is that he does really care for his family.

The cast of actors also really do well at their roles. Each of the different "dads" that come into Teitou's life all have a distinct personality, and they each capture their roles very well. You can tell how they each treat him different, but all care for his well being. There were three child actors that portrayed Teitou as he ages, and I thought they all did well at portraying his dominant personality, but also his progression as he ages. It's because of the actors abilities to portray their character's well it helps the movie that relies on emotions to reach the viewer.

The Blue Kite does move really slowly. It's about a mom and her son, and at the heart of it that is where it wants to stay without relying on anything overly catchy to get someone's attention. It took me a while to work through though because there isn't any pick up in pace, but nearing the end I found myself caring about what happened to the characters, so I ended more involved than I began believing I was.

This might be a movie mostly for those curious about China, and maybe a depiction of the history that has occurred there. You have strong characters, but there lives also depend on knowing what was happening at that time as well, and sadly in American schools we don't explore Chinese history, or any Asian history for that matter, in depth. Once you know a bit about it, it's a good movie to see the lives of people who were affected at that time in the 1950's.

Rating 6 of 10.