The Golden Era (M+ Screenings: The Film Life of Ann Hui)

The Golden Era is a detailed portrait of the difficult, itinerant life of Xiao Hong, a writer during the Republic of China period. Xiao Hong (Tang Wei) leaves her hometown in north-eastern China in pursuit of the freedom to love. She meets another writer, Xiao Jun (Feng Shaofeng), and her talent is recognised by the prominent literary figure Lu Xun (Wang Zhiwen). Her relationship with Xiao Jun becomes rocky; they separate and, pregnant with his child, she marries Duanmu Hongliang (Zhu Yawen). Xiao Hong dies in Hong Kong during the Japanese occupation, after completing The Story of Hu-Lan River. Ann Hui’s film demonstrates a breadth of vision and an ambition unprecedented in her earlier work. It sees Hui leveraging the advantages of a co-production to create a film that is epic in scale but nevertheless close to her heart.

* Post-screening talk with Tang Siu-wa (Writer). Conducted in Cantonese.