The Sun Also Rises

The Sun Also Rises is a Chinese drama and fantasy film released in September 2007, running 116 minutes. It unfolds as an interconnected series of stories set in different places and moments, moving between a village in Yunnan, a university campus and the Gobi Desert. Across these strands, a strange mother and her son, an academic whose life has come undone, and two old friends whose bond is tested by a woman all become entangled. Desire, madness, dreams and violence run through the film as its separate parts gradually reveal their connections.

Jiang Wen directed the film, working from a screenplay he wrote with Shu Ping and Shixing Guo. It followed his earlier work as director, In the Heat of the Sun (1994) and Devils on the Doorstep (2001). The cast includes Zhou Yun as the Mother, Jiang Wen himself as Tang, Joan Chen as Dr. Lin, Anthony Wong as Teacher Liang, Jaycee Chan as the Son and Kong Wei as Tang's Wife. It was made for a budget of about 10 million USD, a substantial figure for a Chinese production of its period.

On IMDb, the film holds a rating of 7.2 out of 10 from around 2,900 votes, while on TMDB it has 7.5 out of 10 from a much smaller group of 73 voters. The two audiences broadly agree in their assessment, and the relatively modest vote count points to a film with a dedicated following rather than a wide international profile. Jiang Wen went on to direct New York, I Love You, Let the Bullets Fly and later films.