The Orphan of Anyang

Toronto International Film Festival Program Book
2001

The Orphan of Anyang
Wang Chao
China, 2001
94 minutes Colour/35mm
Production Company: Fang Li
Executive Producer: Fang Li
Producer: Wang Chao
Screenplay: Wang Chao, from his novel
Cinematographer: Zhang Xi
Editor: Wang Chao, Wang Gang
Production Designer: Wang Chao
Sound: Wang Yu
Principal Cast: Zhu Jie, Sun Guilin, Yue Senyi
Production: Fang Li

Surely one of the most auspicious debut films from mainland China in ages, The Orphan of Anyang is a simple, tough and deeply affecting look at a rarely seen part of the world. As one might imagine, the film is set in Anyang, an ancient city in the province of Henan. This city is not a rich metropolis like Shanghai or Guangzhou, nor is it a dirt-poor, isolated provincial village. It is like much of China, slowly growing more wealthy in a low-key way, but plagued by failing industry, the emerging forces of corruption and violence, and the other growing pains of Chinese capitalism.

Within this mix, Wang Chao, a former assistant to Chen Kaige—though this film could not be farther from the exquisite frippery of Farewell My Concubine—creates a fascinating tale. A prostitute from the Northeast, desperate and unable to make ends meet, abandons her baby. An unemployed factory worker decides to take the child for the 200 yuan (about $37 Canadian) a month in child support promised by its mother. His early attempts at child-rearing are somewhat painful to watch, but also charming and amusing. Eventually, he and the mother become friendly and it seems that the child will be raised in a sweetly unorthodox family. However, when the woman’s pimp, a local gangster, finds out not only that he may have fathered the child, but also that he is dying of cancer, he decides that he must adopt the baby—and is willing to resort to violence if necessary.

Wang Chao tells his story with a minimum of artifice. Uncomplicated dialogue, non-professional actors and lots of unpretentious long shots allow the film to convey a deep emotional and political honesty. In many ways, this is a fundamental text about the choices and fears average people, confronted by rapid economic change, are forced to make.
—Noah Cowan