Su Tong

Filmmaker Jia Zhangke chronicles his local literature festival in Shanxi, China which includes a multi-generational roster of the country's most esteemed writers.

Shot in 1995, but banned until 2004, this is an adaptation of Su Tong's novel about a shrewd amoral country boy who arrives in the big city in the 1930s and works at a rice emporium.. Initially pushed around, he learns the ropes in his new environment quickly, eventually climbing to the position of boss by marrying the daughter of the house.

The film charts the fortunes of two women who loved each other as sisters, but whose paths diverge when the Revolution brings an end to their old way of life in the brothel.