Peacock

7.7
2005 2 hr 24 min Drama , Family

Brings viewers into a small Chinese city and inspires familiarity with the rhythms of everyday existence, with people's dreams, shortcomings and illusions in a way that is universal.

  • Cast:
    Zhang Jingchu , Li Feng , Lü Yulai , Huang Meiying , Ping Zong , Bao Zhenjiang , Tian Xiaojie

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Reviews

Kattiera Nana
2005/02/18

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

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Konterr
2005/02/19

Brilliant and touching

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Spoonatects
2005/02/20

Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

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FrogGlace
2005/02/21

In other words,this film is a surreal ride.

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YNOTswim
2005/02/22

The story is set in the 1970s in a small town in China. A middle aged couple has three children. The eldest son is obese and mentally challenged, therefore he is teased and outcasted by others. The second child is an outgoing and energetic daughter, who is not afraid of doing anything to pursue her dreams or to survive. The youngest child is a shy and quiet boy who is ashamed by his older brother and tries to break away from the misery in his family. Breaking into three sections focusing on each of these siblings, the film allows us to look into the lives of ordinary Chinese people the 70s.With poetic cinematography, this film reveals fascinating stories and characters to the audience. After watching this film, I doubt that anybody would forget the image of an old lady slowly passing the dinning table in the hall way where the family has supper together everyday. We witness how the three siblings dreamed, how they fought to make their dreams come true, and how they succeeded or failed, and how powerless and hopeless they were to accept their fate.This is a must see, not to be missed.

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Clara Pan
2005/02/23

A film that bears no intention to entertain but a second viewing or more.I was 17 and I rent it home and I began to experience it alone.Dreams achingly dreamed and dreams never fulfilled.I was 17 and only cherished a rather vague outline of China in the late 1970s;China,my motherland.An age during which mass insanity was gradually quenched with mores still overwhelmingly domineering throughout the country.Blue trousers and white blouses and neatly tied-up long hair.You might encounter various feminine visages,but surely you wouldn't ever meet more than one style of dressing.It just went that way,like what the world sees now in North Korea.But hey,let's not be silly as to apply terms like human rights,etc. to the movie.It repels me to have to put up with those who're for ever seeking to impose upon any piece of art unnecessary or even absurd messages which it itself isn't even aware of.It's pregnant only with messages bound for it to be pregnant with,and let's not go too far and interpret no more.

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sisuallen
2005/02/24

I am 21 year old now, although I don't belong to the time in which the story of Peacock happened, I am a Chinese anyway and I know it would take place in those years and I feel glad and of course proud that someone has put it on screen at last.We are living in this world, sometimes without a clear purpose: study,work,date and love, not realizing that what we are doing now is called living because life has a magic to obsess its victims with trifles so that they seldom notice that hours,days or months has passed by. Only when we occidentally see a picture taken years ago or view a video starred by our young images,do we find out the trick of life and begin to recall the passing time. Reminiscing is pleasant both for the young and the elder. Memories,no matter sweet or bitter,are like old songs, which will never fail to touch you the moment you catch the familiar tunes.For me,Peacock is a reminder to my own childhood. Although I live in a different time, the movie does have some traces of the unchanged childhood of every Chinese. We have our dreams but we dare not talk about it with our parents, because in 9 out of 10 cases, our parents will not be impressed by our 'naive' dream and in their eyes, studying is the only way for us. In our adolescence, we boys were very curious about girls but we never had the education about sex and the only thing we were thought was that 'don't do stupid things with girls' and that was the comment about sex or about love. To some extent, Peacock remains a story which also has some truth. I don't believe in the parachute, but now I think it is only a symbol of dream.It seems a little unreal when a realism contains something romantic.However, it is a 100 percent masterpiece and I'd like to watch it again in spite of the length.

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shhyin
2005/02/25

This is actually an excellent work of art full of symbolism. The director doesn't force to impose his ideas into your mind, which is the very reason the pace is set slow. The movie was exposed with strong cinematic languages, such as stage drama-like long shots, great acting, and finally fabulous music. The music matches the theme so well that we are reminded of the music composed by Glass for "The Hours". It circumvents your usual expectation of a social environment of Mainland China in late 1970s' and early 1980s', during which the Chinese society was in the dawn of spectacular transformation, economically and culturally. It tells the story of the cruel reality of life. It looks like there is not bit happiness in the movie. No true love, no respect between people, all about humiliation and desperation, leaving alone realizing one's dreams. But the movie reveals tremendous subconsciousness of a lot of people who failed to express it by themselves and presents profound, twisted human nature in certain social circumstances. If you ever lived through that period in China (maybe even now, for some people, in some part of that country, although the situation has been greatly improved), it inspires enormous imagination and thoughts. Life, life, life, how many people didn't enjoy your beauty before you pass by without a trace? Surely the concepts of human dignity and meanings of life come upon surface again. The style is so "anti-Hollywood" and so efficient and once again proves that the language of films is universal. What a shame that only a very limited population have gotten the chance to watch it. Although it's pretty long (144 minutes), you just expect more from this great cameraman-turned-movie director. So what's his next? Could he recruit enough resource to make a movie about today's China with philosophical symbol? One can't help but holding his breath because this man is definitely talented enough to get out one some day.

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