成化十四

SIFF #6 Real-life coming of age movie. What stands out here is the subtle push and pull dynamics between modern values and conservative traditions. On one hand we have characters saying the "correct" things, like "we parents shouldn't interfere what our children want", or there seemingly is direct intervention from School teachers and folks from "People's Committee" aiming to protect children's rights, which makes you think that tradition, as it stands, maybe are merely performative traditions in this day and age. Until at the very end when the brutal sequence unfolds in front of our eyes, the camera and the parents of Di, who almost decides to do nothing.