The Blue Kite

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The Blue Kite ★★★ Lan Feng Zheng 1993

Fifteen years of political and cultural upheaval in China is shown through the eyes of young troublemaker Tietou, who certainly earns his nickname of “Iron Head” after his 1954 birth. Soon his father is sent to a labor reform camp and his mother remarries—only to be faced with more struggles as the years go by. The kite is Tietou's cherished toy, which keeps getting lost or destroyed but is always being rebuilt, offering one token of hope. Chinese with subtitles. 138m/C VHS, DVD . CH Liping Lu, Zhang Wenyao, Pu Quanxin; D: Tian Zhuangzhuang; W: Xiao Mao; C: Yong Hou; M: Yoshihide Otomo.