Living the Land

A subtle and intelligent family drama set in the Chinese countryside in the 1990s, against a backdrop of drastic social change.

The film is subtitled in Norwegian.

Living the Land takes us to the Chinese countryside in the early 1990s, a period of transition in China’s history when sweeping modernization reforms were transforming what had long been a poor agricultural nation into an industrial superpower. Here we meet young Xu Chuang, who has been sent to live with relatives in the village while his parents earn money elsewhere. In the countryside, Chuang lives as his family has done for centuries—without cars, telephones, or modern farming equipment. Through his eyes, we witness the slow collision between age-old traditions and the modern world pressing in from beyond.

Huo Meng’s second feature is a finely tuned and intelligent family drama set against a backdrop of drastic social change. The practical consequences and human costs of modernization are seamlessly woven into the story, while the characters emerge as fully realized and authentic individuals. Living the Land is both a fascinating portrait of the making of modern China and a melancholic requiem for the rural society left behind.

This film is part of