My Heart Flies

The film My Heart Flies had its premier at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Sunday, three years after its shooting was completed.

It features three men who reveal their different ways of life and attitudes toward life through interaction with the heroine, a deaf-mute musician played by Li Xiaolu.

It was the second film directed by Gao Xiaosong, a singer and composer who shot to fame for his campus songs in the 1990s.

Gao, acclaimed for the film's style of "romantic expressionism," was present at the premier along with leading actress Li Xiaolu and leading actor Zheng Jun, also a singer and composer of rock music. However, Chen Daoming, a famous actor who also played a main character in the film, was absent.

At a preview of the film held at a recent university student film festival, many students expressed their admiration for the film.

Some viewers at the premier, who had seen Gao's first film Where Have All the Flowers Gone, said Gao's style had matured, characterized by a pervasive symbolism and a masterful handling of the film's pacing and plot. They said he had established a one-of-a-kind "Gao style."

The film is said to be a clear expression of one of Gao's beliefs that he has repeatedly emphasized: Be faithful to the love you want rather than to a certain person. Set in western Hunan Province in the 1930s, the film is about the tragic love stories that take place between Hong, the heroine, and three different men.

According to Gao, the heroine is different from a traditional woman. She is faithful to her love but not a man. This attitude is the cornerstone of her relationships with the three men as well as of her fight against her destiny.

After the premier, Gao said he did not know much about other people's attitudes regarding love and that the film was about his personal interpretation of love.

Gao expressed little concern about box office revenue. He said different groups of people loved different styles of film, and that the most important thing for a moviemaker is to be true to himself and his audience.

While saying the movie was for a small group of people, Gao was confident that at least 1 million people would see My Heart Flies.

When asked why it took three years to release the film, Gao answered he was not sufficiently business-minded. He also said it was a sad fact that his film would have to compete with some "so-called blockbusters."

Gao complained that so far there was no cinema suitable for his type of film.

(Shenzhendaily)

My Heart Flies :《我心飛翔》

Where Have All the Flowers Gone : 《那時花開》