447 - Girl from Hunan, China, 1987. Dir. U Lan, Fei Xie.
I only build Greek temples in which humanity is worshiped. - Shen Congwen.
Adapted from Xiaoxiao by Shen Congwen.
Xiao Xiao is getting married. She travels with her father. By boat and then by sedan.
A sedan is a type of litter. A carriage box with poles run through it on each side and with four men carrying it while walking and lifting the pole handles. A palanqin. A jiao.
Her father walks beside the sedan.
She asks if they can stop. She needs to urinate. The English translation subtitles claim that she says, "I need to take a piss." We do not know if that is exactly what she says in Mandarin, but it seems curious when you get to know her.
Her father explains to her that where they are going will not be as nice, but she needs to be an adult and obey.
Obey?
Xiao Xiao is twelve.
Her marriage is arranged.
Her fiance, Chun Guan, is a two-year old boy.
Really?
That is what this movie is about. Arranged marriages between children.
The mother of the boy gladly gives him to Xiao Xiao. In fact, she arranged it. It is as if she wants someone else to take over the duties of raising him.
They have the ceremony. The rest is innocent. She acts more like a big sister raising a kid brother. He grows to call her "Sister."
She recites poetry to him under the evening sky.
Where the moon goes, I will follow.
The big round moon, it's so hollow.
Where the moon goes, I will follow.
Up in the air, like a swallow.
Where the moon goes, I will follow.
The big round moon, it's so hollow.
Not very good, is it? Maybe we should say children's verse rather than poetry. Maybe it sounds better in Mandarin.
When he gets older they play hide and seek. She starts to call herself his sister. He corrects her. "You're my wife!" They run and laugh. She spanks him playfully. They enjoy each other's company.
The men work the rice paddies. They refer to Xiao Xiao as "the virgin."
They take a break and ask the now 6-year-old Chun Guan to sing for them.
He sings.
Up in the skies, clouds are billowing.
Down in the corn, pea plants are growing.
Tendrils wrap tight 'round every stem.
Maidens wrap tight 'round all the men.
Who taught him that?
His uncle taught him.
Now that Xiao Xiao is 16 her body is developing and the men look at her and talk about her. Back in her bedroom she experiences the discoveries a young person goes through after puberty. Standing in the dark. Discovering herself. With her six-year-old husband across the room lying in bed.
In the village Chun Guan gets in the way. Xiao Xiao is asked to watch him. They go walking.
His uncle sings another song.
Three maple leaves, all the same.
Under the leaves, lover's lane.
Many girls to whom I've spoken
Now I've countless love tokens.
Maybe the translators speak English as a second language.
They go to the market. They ride in the boat. One of the young rice farmers, Hua Gou, flirts with her. The older women give her wooden shoes to bind her feet. She works. Making rice cakes.
The farmer from a distance plays an instrument. She hears it and turns. Smiles. Her husband brings her flowers. She appreciates it. Hugs him. Smiles.
She carries her husband on her back to run in out of the rain. They take shelter in a mill. She hides from her husband to remove her wet clothes. She hides further still when the rice farmer enters the mill.
Her husband asks the rice farmer to play with him.
Her husband asks the rice farmer to play with him.
Instead, Hua Gou asks Chun Guan to go looking for his buffalo. Hua Gou wants to be alone. He has something in mind.
Xiao Xiao is hiding in the hay. Hua Gou opens the sluice gate. Starts the drive shaft. Turns the waterwheel. Moves the millstone.
Hua Gou joins her in the hay. She receives him. She is, after all, a virgin having to wait at least ten more years to consummate her marriage. She has already waited four. That is like Jacob working for Leah and Rachel combined. And waiting all fourteen years to get either.
Xiao Xiao gets pregnant.
She tries to abort but does not succeed.
Another couple is caught. In flagrante delicto.
The villagers show up with torches. Ready for bear.
"Look how they've broken our clan rules. . . . Beat them. Beat them good and hard. We should break his legs, so he can't do it again.
I am curious to know how having broken legs would stop one from doing it again. If you find out, let me know.
They break his legs.
Now for her.
"Ask her parents. Either drown her, or if they're shameless, sell her off."
"That would be too nice. She's disgraced us. We must be strict."
They decide to "take her clothes off and drown her."
Now how is that first part not itself a violation of their strict clan rules?
The villagers with their firebrands stand en masse as this girl is carried on her own litter. Without a carriage box. A bed with poles. A stretcher. Nude. Bent over. Bound. Shamed.
They place her in the boat. They carry her out to sea. You may guess what happens next. They return without her.
Xiao Xiao watches these processions from behind a tree. She knows she is vulnerable. She is afraid.
She goes into labor. The elders gather round.
"If it's a girl, drown it."
It is a boy. The six-year old Chunguan's stepson.
He looks like a bull. They name him Bull. Little Bull.
Years later Chunguan is in town. High school age. Some girls approach him. "I hear you have a wife. 10 years older than you." / "Nonsense." "Look he is blushing, so it must be true." The girls laugh. He must endure it.
He catches a boat to go home. 10 miles up in the mountains. When he gets there he watches from a distance as his wife and mother talk.
The bride is coming.
The mother-in-law informs the daughter-in-law that today Little Bull will be married.
She says to Little Bull, "Your uncle wasn't weaned when he was married." Little Bull is weaned. Good news!
Little Bull resists. He cries. "I won't! I won't!" His step-grandmother informs him that "All men get married." So of course he must. She states that Chunguan will be so happy when he discovers Little Bull's marriage. She orders Xiao Xiao to go meet the bride.
Xiao Xiao does not want to meet the bride. But her mother-in-law explains that she must, as it is clan rules.
Then she gives Xiao Xiao another piece of advice. From Dad. (Whom we do not remember having ever seen.)
Xiao Xiao is to sleep with her husband Chunguan. For the first time since their marriage. Around fourteen years ago.
"It's really double happiness today!"
Xiao Xiao is smiling when she closes the door.
Girl from Hunin takes a stand for women. Or more precisely, it takes a stand for children of both sexes. Not to be given in arranged marriages. Not to be given in any kind of marriage against their will.
It was made in the People's Republic of China. At the Youth Film Studio.
It was one of the first Chinese films to be given a commercial release in America.
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