Yellow Earth

Yellow Earth
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Chen Kaige
Written by	Chen Kaige Zhang Ziliang
Starring	Xue Bai Wang Xueqi Tan Tuo Tan Tuo
Music by	Zhao Jiping
Cinematography	Zhang Yimou
Release date(s)	1984
Running time	89 minutes
Country
Language	Mandarin

Yellow Earth (simplified Chinese: 黄土地; traditional Chinese: 黃土地; pinyin: Huáng tǔdì) is a 1984 Chinese drama film. It was the directorial debut for Chen Kaige. The film's notable cinematography is by Zhang Yimou. At the 24th Hong Kong Film Awards ceremony on 27 March 2005, a list of 100 Best Chinese Motion Pictures was tallied, and Yellow Earth came in fourth.

Background

Yellow Earth is set in early Spring 1939. The CCP (Chinese Communist Party) and the KMT (Kuomintang) have stopped fighting one another and are working together to overwhelm the invading Japanese forces. The provinces are divided into KMT-controlled areas and CCP-controlled areas. Shaanxi is divided into three sections: the northernmost and southernmost are KMT-controlled, the middle is CCP. As a result of the collaboration between the two parties, navigation between the provinces is allowed.

Plot

Gu Qing, a soldier from the propaganda department of the CCP Eight Route Army in CCP-controlled Shaanxi, travels alone from Yen'an to the northern KMT-controlled area of Shaanxi, Shaanbei, with the task of collecting the peasants' folk songs in order to re-write them with communist lyrics in order to boost the morale of the Eight Route Army soldiers.

Yellow Earth begins with a scene depicting a communist soldier walking several miles. He reaches a small village where he is assigned to live with a poor family with the task of recording local folk songs for use in the army later. He learns the hardships of peasant life and especially of that of a peasant girl named Cuiqiao. The story then focuses on the girl, who at only age 14 is forced to marry a significantly older man as her wedding dowry was used to pay for her mother's funeral and brother's engagement. The Communist soldier "Brother Gu" attempts to dissuade Cuiqiao from running off and joining the CCP, but recognizes her despair. After her marriage, Cuiqiao crosses the Yellow River at night. Her fate is unknown. The story then fast forwards to a rain dance being performed by the villagers, as the land has dried up and peoples' crops have died.

Main characters

• Da Shu - Father of Cuiqiao.
• Cuiqiao (翠巧 Cuìqiǎo) - The main character and protagonist in the film.
• Gu Qing (顾　青 Gù Qīng), or Brother Gu - The Communist Party soldier who stays with Cui Qiao's family while fulfilling his mission to collect folk songs from the outer provinces.
• Hanhan (憨憨 Hānhān) - Cuiqiao's brother

External links

• Yellow Earth at the Internet Movie Database
• Yellow Earth at AllRovi
• Yellow Earth at the Chinese Movie Database
• Yellow Earth at Rotten Tomatoes