The 34th China Golden Rooster Awards
Individual Nominations
- Best ScreenplayZhang Li
- Best Art DirectionLi Peng
Synopsis
The film tells the story of an elderly woman in an old industrial city in Northeast China during the seven days before the winter fishing season begins. A few years after her husband's death, 82-year-old Zhao Lihua develops mild depression. She wants to bathe at the factory workers' bathhouse but is turned away and humiliated several times. Her son, Zhu Hongbing, goes to great lengths to find two women to accompany his mother to the bath. What seems a simple everyday matter proves very hard for mother and son. In the end, the mother never fulfills her wish to bathe at the workers' bathhouse, even though she worked at the factory all her life. For Zhao Lihua, bathing is a self-cleansing akin to baptism, and leaving "peacefully" and with dignity is her final choice...
Jury Citation
With a realist approach, Fish Under the Ice presents the true texture of life. Focusing on the lives of ordinary working people in an industrial city in Northeast China, it uses an everyday visual language to show the dignity of the elderly and the anxieties of the middle-aged. Through individual experience, the film reflects social change and the passing of an era, addresses many issues of people's livelihoods, and fully conveys the living conditions of ordinary people and the warmth of human nature. Winner of Best Low-to-Medium Budget Feature Film.
Film Information
Director
Zhang Li
Genre:
Drama
Starring:
Gao Fang | Zhou Bo | Zhuang Xin | Wang Li | Cui Lu | More...
Country/Region:
Chinese Mainland
Language:
Mandarin
Running Time:
99 min
