Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl

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Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl ★★★ Tian Yu 1997 (R)

To foil Chinese censors, first-time director Chen was forced into guerilla filmmaking (accounting for the film's somewhat rough look) in this moving effort set during the Cultural Revolution. In 1975, teenaged city girl Xiu-Xiu (Lu Lu) is sent down to a remote corner of Tibet to learn horse training from peasant Lao Jin (Lopsang). She expects only to be gone six-months but is instead stuck, forgotten, on the plains. In desperation, Xiu-Xiu begins to trade sexual favors in exchange for the chance to return home. Based on the novel “Tian Yu” (Heavenly Bath) by co-writer Geling. Mandarin with subtitles. 99m/C VHS, DVD . Lu Lu, Lopsang; D: Joan Chen; W: Joan Chen, Yan Geling; C: Lu Yue; M: Johnny Chen.