China Behind is a rare Hong Kong film that expresses a sharp opinion on China. Made at a time when the Cultural Revolution was refusing to go away, it's the story of four college students and a middle-aged doctor who try to flee during the devastating event's early years. The China they want to leave behind is the political one, echoing the murmurs of Chinese all over the world. Director Tong Shu-shuen is a trailblazer of Hong Kong independent cinema and her animation of the escape as a thriller is an inspired touch, evoking the anxiety and unease of the times with devices usually reserved for visceral effects. The film was so ahead of its time it was banned in Hong Kong for over ten years. Today, with the China of the Cultural Revolution largely left behind, the film takes on an added poignancy of prophetic proportions.

5/5

(Sat)

7:00pm *

Cinema, Hong Kong Film Archive

13/5

(Sun)

2:00pm #

Broadway Cinematheque

* Post-screening talk with Leung Man-tao
# Post-screening talk with Ernest Chan