Stolen Life (Chinese: 生死劫; pinyin: Shēngsǐ jié), also known as Life and Death Plunder, is a 2005 Chinese drama film directed by Li Shaohong, and starring Zhou Xun and Wu Jun. Both this and Shaohong's previous film Baober in Love star Zhou Xun in the lead role. The film had its world premiere at the 2005 Tribeca Film Festival, where it won the Best Narrative Feature award. It was also an official selection of the prestigious, award-winning Global Lens Collection 2006, presented by the Global Film Initiative. Stolen Life was released on April 23, 2005.
Contents
Plots
In Li Shaohong's acclaimed coming-of-age drama, a teenage girl is taken to live with her aunt and grandmother in Beijing. Yan'ni (played by acclaimed Chinese actress Zhou Xun) is withdrawn and reclusive, believing that she has been abandoned by her parents and has no control over her fate. The fact that her extended family doesn't have much hope for her future only compounds her depression. Surprising everyone in her hostile household, Yan'ni is accepted to college. But as she prepares to embark on her new life of higher education, an encounter with a delivery boy triggers a series of unexpected events that will change her life forever.
Cast
Zhou Xun as Yan'ni (胭妮; Yān'nī)
When Yan'ni decides not to kill Muyu, Xiaoping Lin, author of Children of Marx and Coca-Cola: Chinese Avant-Garde Art and Independent Cinema, states that she made "a triumph of a common humanity that finally sets her free from Muyu's shadow and its dark future."
Wu Jun (吴军; 吳軍; Wú Jūn) as Muyu (木玉; Mùyù)
Muyu's parents were not married and therefore he was born out of wedlock. Muyu makes money from his deceptive romantic relationships. Xiaoping Lin compared Muyu to Lenox Sanderson of Way Down East. According to Lin, the film does not state that Muyu ever faces adverse consequences.
Cai Ming
Su Xiaoming
Peiyi Wang
Jianong Sun
Yan Ni as Sichuan woman
Reception
Janice Page of the Boston Globe wrote that "This one hits home in places, but overall it begs for a lighter touch."