Asia and Australia

Peacock

Kong que

Given its Cultural Revolution setting, one would imagine a political streak running through the film, but it's not to be found at all. The generational conflicts that exist here are rooted in the standard and universal problems of teenage rebellion/angst/insecurity, rather than motivated by political fervor. A simple story of a middle-aged couple, their three problematic children, and the bad luck that befalls them.

Though divided into three sections (one for each sibling) the focus is mostly on Weihong, the daughter. Moody, unmotivated, and bored with her life in a small town situated in the shadow of a nuclear power plant, she is constantly being pressured by her mother to find a better job than her current one as a bottle washer. A stint at a daycare center ends badly when she drops a baby, but her spirits are lifted when a troop of paratroopers visits her town, looking for recruits. A chance to escape from her family, her desire increases when she falls in love with one of the paratroopers. Weihong's older brother Weiguo is both mentally challenged and abnormally obese. Mocked and mistreated by many, he is a major source of suffering for his parents, and one of embarrassment for his siblings. Worried about how he will fend for himself after their death, the parents take desperate measures to find him a wife. Weiqiang, the youngest of the three children (and the film's narrator), is a quiet, intelligent boy who suffers from the family's various ordeals and sees no choice but to flee the town forever.