Seventeen Years (1999)

Seventeen Years is a Chinese film directed by Zhang Yuan.It was a heartwarming story of the tragedy between two teen-age stepsisters when one dies and the other spends 17 years in prison as well as a story of forgiveness.It stars Li Jun as Tao Xiaolan, a young woman whose accidental murder of her stepsister leads to a seventeen year prison sentence;Li Bingbing as Chen Jie, a prison guard who takes pity on Xiaoqin and helps her find her parents;Liu Lin as Yu Xiaoqin, Xiaolan's stepsister together with Liang Song and Le Yeping as the parents of the said stepsisters.Seventeen Years has two divorced single parents marry, each bringing with them a teenage daughter. Xiaoqin, Mother's daughter, is strong- willed and proudly working-class, intending to get a job in a factory when she finishes school. Xiaolan, a bit younger and Father's child, is more intellectual and hopes to go on to college. One day, a petty argument between the step-sisters over some change turns ugly; Xiaolan hits Xiaoqiun over the head with a stick, and to the shock of everyone Xiaoqiun dies. Xiaolan is convicted of murder and sentenced to a long stay in prison; after 17 years, a handful of prisoners are released on furlough for New Years, including Xiaolan. When Xiaolan's parents don't arrive to pick her up, she's left stranded; a guard, Chen Jie, takes pity on Xiaolan and offers to give her a ride home. However, they soon discover Xiaolan's home has been torn down and her folks have moved. Chen Jie is determined Xiaolan will spend New Year with her family, though Xiaolan herself starts to wonder if they have any desire to see her.Seventeen Years is a great emotional movie.It tells us how people are affected by tragedy and how forgiveness can be extremely difficult in some situations.Also,it tells us that it is a situation that something should be prepared for,letting go of the past and it is an emotion of healing as well.It is easier said than done.Aside from that,it also tells us a touching story of a reunion between parents and prisoner.The greatest characteristic of this movie is it does not fall into the trap of trying to act and shoot scenes with over-the-top emotions. Subtlety and simplicity were its greatest assets.That is why is makes it a highly recommended movie.

This is an interesting tale that is shown almost documentary style. The film begins with a blended family living with China. The husband and wife don't get along all that well and some of this contention is because they both have teenage daughters from a previous marriage. The daughters also don't particularly like each other and the "good" one actually is pretty cruel for making it look like her step-sister is a thief. However, when the step-sister attacks and accidentally kills her, the story takes a dramatic twist.The film changes to 17 years later. Here we see that the surviving sister is a model inmate in a prison that seems much more like an indoctrination center. I found this pretty fascinating. While this sort of program could easily be used for evil (such as political prisoners), such strong and consistent messages and classes on "correct" thinking and behavior do offer an alternative to the traditional Western-style prisons--that often have inmates leave worse off than when they entered them. In this case, the girl did deserve to be punished but she was also rehabilitatable--mostly because she truly was sorry for what she had done in a moment of anger at age 16.Because she is so committed to change, she and several other model prisoners are given holiday furloughs. However, given her past, it's obvious she is concerned her mother and step-father don't want her to return. What happens next is slow to unfold but very satisfying, as a worker from the prison helps the lady to find her parents (they'd moved) and renew their relationship--if it is still possible.

This is one of the movies banned by China. I rented this movie out of curiosity as to see why it was banned. This is a very good movie, it makes you think about parenting and playing it fair to your children. The family is complex since the father has a daughter from prior marriage and the mother also has a daughter from a prior marriage. After this movie, I thought about parenting. The parents need to be sensitive to each child's development. One of the daughter is academic, obviously with high IQ and excelled in school. However, this high IQ daughter has pretty low EQ. She is not a team player and she is ambitious and eager to have a successful and more luxurious life in the future. The other daughter is not doing as good in academics. She is proud of her working class background, more outgoing and unlike the other daughter, she is a team player who wants to contribute to her school's extracurricular activities, etc. In Chinese culture, people place too much emphasis on academic achievement. I think if you watch this movie, you would think about a child's ethical and moral standards as important attributes in a child's development as well.Without giving away too much of the movie, I highly recommend people to see this movie. You won't regret it.

Loved everything about it. You immediately identify with the family, then the two characters that become the focal point in the film. Beautifully shot, it becomes a road picture of sorts, a fascinating study of time and how things change along with it. It's one of those rare films that stays with you for a long, long, time. This is one of many foreign films that plays the festival circuit but doesn't get a general release in the U.S. I saw it in 1999 and thought that I'd have to be satisfied with the memory. There would never be another opportunity to see it again, but amazingly, after six years, it was actually released on DVD!! On a rainy day, pop this one into the VCR/DVD and just enjoy a very special story in a wonderful little film.