65
Metascore
22 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 80Washington PostDesson ThomsonWashington PostDesson ThomsonIf the movie is straightforward and predictable in its attitude, it also exudes a sort of documentary lyricism.
- 75New York PostV.A. MusettoNew York PostV.A. MusettoA meditation on literature, love and remembrance that is able to find humor and hope in the dark days of the Cultural Revolution.
- 75New York Daily NewsJami BernardNew York Daily NewsJami BernardIt's a fanciful tale, but the message is sweet - that the higher arts speak a universal language that transcends politics and ignorance.
- 70VarietyDavid StrattonVarietyDavid StrattonA visually lush and very Westernized vision of life in a remote Chinese village in the early 1970s.
- 70Village VoiceEd ParkVillage VoiceEd ParkThough the film lacks some of the paper incarnation's subtlety, Dai's infidelity to his own text keeps things interesting. He busts the book's brief time frame, tweaks countless plot points, and tops it all off with a titanic metaphor not found in his own pages.
- 70The New York TimesDana StevensThe New York TimesDana StevensDai Sijie's tender, touching adaptation of his own novel of the same title.
- 50Chicago ReaderChicago ReaderThe ethereal private moments and inspired passages are beautifully shot by Jean-Marie Dreujou, but Dai never quite organizes the material dramatically, and the tone is too often jagged and disruptive.
- 50The A.V. ClubTasha RobinsonThe A.V. ClubTasha RobinsonSijie mostly adapts his own work dryly and literally—the footage of the Chinese mountainside is breathtaking, but it's the only thing in the film with much depth.
- 50Christian Science MonitorDavid SterrittChristian Science MonitorDavid SterrittThe story is winning but the telling, with Dai adapting and directing from his own novel, is too sentimental in the long run.
- 40TV Guide MagazineKen FoxTV Guide MagazineKen FoxDemonstrating just how different literature and filmmaking can be, filmmaker-turned-writer-turned filmmaker Dai Sijie botches an adaptation of his own best-selling short novel.