The Other Half (Ling Yi Ban)
(2006) 

DIR.:
Ying Liang
TRT:
111 min
MPAA RATING:
NR
COLLECTION:
RATE IT:
  (2)

Xiaofen (Zeng Xiaofei) spends all day listening to everything that's wrong with China, opening her eyes to the chaos that threatens her own life.


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FULL SYNOPSIS

"A fierce and harrowing cry of political rage." - Richard Brody, The New Yorker

"Subtly subversive" - The New York Times

"One hell of a beautiful film... Endlessly haunting...with serene, even joyous consciousness that is the opposite of despair." - Ronnie Scheib, Variety

Xiaofen (Zeng Xiaofei) spends all day listening to everything that's wrong with China, opening her eyes to the chaos that threatens her own life.

Working as a secretary for a legal office, Xiaofen records clients detailing the sordid aspects of their lives: divorce cases, medical malpractice suits, financial corruption and old-fashioned personal revenge. Xiaofen starts to question her own relationship with her boyfriend (Deng Gang), fresh out of prison and looking to get into trouble again with his gambling habit. While Xiaofen deals with the overwhelming social malaise surrounding her, rumors spread of a disaster at the local chemical plant, threatening to poison the entire city.

Indie director Ying Liang follows up his celebrated debut Taking Father Home with a brutally frank portrait of the social and environmental problems plaguing contemporary China. "A vivid angle into ordinary life in China" (David Bordwell), THE OTHER HALF examines multiple facets of society with a deceptively direct filmmaking style "that has few parallels in modern cinema" (Richard Brody, The New Yorker).

CAST & CREW

  • Producer(s): Peng Shan
  • Writer(s): Ying Liang, Peng Shan
  • Actor(s): Zeng Xiaofei, Deng Gang, Zhao Ke, Chen Xigui, Liu Huibin

AWARDS

  • Special Jury Prize – Tokyo FilmEx Film Festival 2006, International Film Festival Rotterdam 2007 – Official Selection, 31st Hong Kong International Film Festival – Official Selection, Singapore International Film Festival 2007 – Special Jury Award, Jeonju International Film Festival 2007 – Indie Vision Award, New Directors/New Films 2007 – Official Selection, 2007 San Francisco International Film Festival – Official Selection, Sarajevo Film Festival 2007 – Official Selection

GENRES

Drama  

SUBJECTS

China, Countries, Geographical Areas, Social Problems, Society and Culture

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ADDITIONAL MATERIALS

The Other Half - Photo 1 The Other Half - Photo 2 The Other Half - Photo 3

EXTERNAL LINKS

"The Other Half" review - by Nelson Kim, Hammer to Nail
"The Other Half" review - by Richard Brody, The New Yorker, April 2, 2006
"The Other Half" review - by Ronnie Schieb, Variety Asia, April 11, 2007
On Other Side of the World, Life Is Still Upside Down - by Meil Genzlinger, New York Times, March 19, 2008

COLLECTIONS

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