Sunflower

Sunflower is a 2005 Chinese film directed by Zhang Yang. Zhang's fourth film, Sunflower is a joint production of Ming Productions, the Beijing Film Studio (as part of the China Film Corporation's 4th Production Company) and the Hong Kong subsidiary of the Netherlands-based Fortissimo Films. It was distributed by Fortissimo Films and New Yorker Films (US theatrical distribution). The film stars Sun Haiying and Joan Chen as a husband and wife, and the actors Zhang Fan, Gao Ge and Wang Haidi as their son over the course of 30 years. Cast Sun Haiying as Zhang Gengnian, a Beijing painter whose spirit is crushed during his time in a labor camp during the Cultural Revolution. Joan Chen as Xiuqing, Zhang Gengnian's wife. Liu Zifeng as Lao Liu, Zhang Gengnian's best friend and fellow artist. Zhang Fan as Zhang Xiangyang, Zhang Gengnian's son as an 8-year-old boy. Gao Ge as Zhang Xiangyang as a 19-year-old man. Wang Haidi as Zhang Xiangyang as a 30-year-old man. Liang Jing as Han Jing, Xiangyang's wife. Hong Yihao as Chicken Droppings, Xiangyang's friend as a 9-year-old boy. Li Bin as Chicken Droppings as a 19-year-old young man. Plot The film is split into three main segments spanning thirty years. The first segment, in 1976, begins with the return of an artist, Gengnian to his wife, Xiuqing and son after several years of re-education during the Cultural Revolution. He returns however, with injured hands and can no longer continue as an artist. He instead hopes to cultivate artistic aspirations in his son, Xiangyang, who has taken to hurling stones at strangers with his friend Chicken Droppings. Though he eventually follows in his father's footsteps, Xiangyang resents his father's pressure and the two soon fall out.