金熊奖Jīnxióng Jiǎng: the highest prize awarded for the best film at the Berlin International Film Festival. The bear is the heraldic animal of Berlin, featured on both the coat of arms and flag of Berlin. 

 

Today let’s take a brief introduction of a famous Chinese movie named “White Deer Plain”.White Deer Plain is a 2012 Chinese movie directed by Wang Quan’an and based on the novel of the same name by Chen Zhongshi, a famous modern author in China. This is a movie starring by Zhang Fengyi, Zhang yuqi and Duan Yihong. It reflects the conflicts between Bai family and Lu family through three generations, with the background of Bai Lu Village on Guanzhong Plain in Shaanxi province.

It tells an epic tale spanning three generations of the Bai and Lu families in Bai Lu Village. The story is told in a time span of thirty years from the end of Qing Dynasty to the beginning of the Anti-Japanese War. The main story line in the movie is the romantic relationships the leading female role Bai Xiao’e (played by Zhang Yuqi) has with men from the two families. The conflicts between the two peasant families serve as a miniature of the primitive living situation of northern peasants in China. The evolution of society in history and its influence on common people can be seen through the ups and downs of two families.

The movie was the only Chinese movie that competed for the Golden Bear at the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival. It is of strong local color, with the elements of wheat waves, dialect of northern Shaanxi region and the traditional art of Qinqiang, etc. Through this movie, a special period in Chinese history reappear before the audience.

 

陕西Shǎnxī：a province of the People’s Republic of China, officially part of the Northwest China region.
清朝Qīng Cháo：Empire of the Great Qing or Great Qing, was the last imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and succeeded by the Republic of China.