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Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl
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Wikipedia article
'Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl' is a 1998 Chinese drama film directed by Joan Chen in her directorial debut, who co-wrote the screenplay with Geling Yan. Based on Yan's 1981 short story "Celestial Bath", the film is set in the 1970s during the Cultural Revolution's Down to the Countryside Movement in People's Republic of China. The film stars Li Xiaolu as the titular character, with Lopsang also starring.
Plot
Xiu Xiu , a 15-year-old girl living in the city of Chengdu, is sent out to study horses in the countryside with a nomadic Tibetan. She is told that after six months, she will return to take charge of her all-girl cavalry unit. Her only friend is the eunuch horseman Lao Jin, who takes care of her while teaching her to herd horses. But after the six months are up, she quickly discovers that she is not allowed to return.
As Xiu Xiu loses hope, she falls for the lies of a peddler who tells her he can get her out of the place, but does not return after having sex with her. Her innocence is slowly corrupted by a stream of men who use her only for sex, barely keeping up the conceit by telling her that they are able to get her back to her hometown. She starts to believe the lies the men perfunctorily tell her, as she spitefully lectures Lao Jin that the men who come in the night and have their way with her are important men who can help her get back.
Xiu Xiu gets pregnant and goes for a traumatic abortion in the hospital. The female doctors gossip about her. After the operation, she is raped by one of the patients, a man who shot himself in the foot to get disability benefits in the state-controlled economy. Lao Jin gets angry and assaults the rapist, but is restrained by the other patients while the doctors make snide remarks about how Xiu Xiu enjoys being raped.
After Xiu recuperates, she tries to shoot herself in the foot so she can get sent back home, but cannot bring herself to pull the trigger. She asks Lao Jin to shoot her foot, then changes her mind and asks him to shoot her dead instead. He does so, then shoots himself and falls on her body.
Reception
Distribution
The film was banned in China for sexual content. The Chinese government claims to have approved the script and states it was banned only after the filmmakers decided not to wait for permits before shooting in Tibet.Awards and nominations
;Golden Horse Awards* 1998: 'won for Best Film' (Joan Chen)
* 1998: 'won for Best Director' (Joan Chen)
* 1998: 'won for Best Screenplay Adapted from Another Medium' (Joan Chen)
* 1998: 'won for Best Actress' (Li Xiaolu)
* 1998: 'won for Best Actor' (LupSang)
;48th Berlin International Film Festival
* 1998: nominated for the Golden Bear
;Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival
* 1998: 'won the Jury Award'
;Paris Film Festival
* 1999: 'won the Special Jury Prize'
* 1999: nominated for the Grand Prize
* 1999: 'won Best Actress' (Li Xiaolu)
;Mons International Festival of Love Films
* 1999: 'won the Grand Prize'
;National Board of Review
* 1999: 'won the International Freedom Award'
;Independent Spirit Awards
* 2000: nominated for Best First Feature Over $500,000 (Joan Chen, shared with co-producer Alice Chan Wai-Chung)
In Popular Culture
American experimental band Xiu Xiu is named after the film, and frontman Jamie Stewart has stated that Xiu Xiu's sound is influenced by the film.
References
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