Er di

The pace of this movie is slow and would have been difficult to sit through had I not lived in North and South America and come into direct contact with Chinese who chose a path similar to the protagonist. What I learned was that life in the West was anything but ideal for these illegals. I witnessed 14 to 16 hour work days (usually in Chinese Restaurants), for 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Most Chinese regretted their decision to illegally go abroad but had no choice as they needed to work and repay family who put up the money for the voyage. For them, returning to rural China was not an option because going back a failure is unacceptable.

What this film does well is paint an accurate portrait of rural China today. Many young people are confused. Many lack the opportunity to gain an education or attain a skillful vocation. This ultimately leads people to make uninformed decisions with dire consequences. 6/10 for the fabulous cinematography.