Storyline

When Chairman Mao dies, many men jailed during his regime are released, including artist Zhang Gengnian (Sun Haiying), who comes back to his wife, Xiuqing (Joan Chen), and son, Xiangyang (Zhang Fan), after a long absence. There is unease in the family home, though, as Xiangyang is mistrustful of the father he barely knows and Gengnian is no longer able to paint after years of forced labor. Xiangyang begins to excel at art, which could either bring him closer to his father or widen the schism.

Plot Keywords

painter, husband, wife, son, daughter-in-law, chinese man, tender, somber, touching, sad, beijing, family home, train, roof, prison, china, father/son relationship, estrangement, art, disillusionment, marriage, reunion, love, transformation, rivalry, 1990s

Short Review

An odd combination of sociopolitical metaphor and conventional melodrama, Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yang's Sunflower has moments of keen insight and power touching on the ways in which human character and personality are shaped by historical experience.

Trailer

Streaming Service

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