Peacock

Ambitious and assured first feature by Fifth Generation cinematographer Gu Changwei, charting the tribulations of a working-class family in a small rural town in the ’70s, when China was beginning to shift towards a tentative market economy. As we follow in turn the stories of the three kids – romantic, impulsive daughter, a huge son deemed retarded since illness and a younger brother treated as the runt – we witness frustrated flights of freedom, cruel bullying, financial ambition and small betrayals. A strong, dour drama which boasts two telling, epiphanic moments involving birds: the poisoning of a goose and, unseen by all but the audience, the fanning of a peacock’s tail.