GAN Xiao'er
Director
There are 80 millions Christians in China. Where are they in Chinese film?A. Tranquil and churning, trembling and peaceMy father died in 1997. My wedding was held in 1999. The next year of 2000 was the 3rd anniversary of my father’s funeral. My spiritual life was actually baptized by the Chinese Christians living in the countryside.The film just like what I have seen.I intended to reveal the weaknesses of man.It is a quiet fiction film.It is like the Nu Jiang River of Southwest China – tranquil at the surface, but churning beneath.On the contrary, what the film recorded is the trembling of the body and the peace of the soul.This is the life of a normal Chinese Christian.B. To Narrate & to RecordTo narrate the complexity through a simple story. We choose this way but not the reverse when creating the fiction film “Raise From Dust”.We have got two clues for the story:Xiao-li and the Christian church in Chinese village.The young peasant Chen Shunjun builds house locating at where the railway will probably through so that he can claim for that.The relevance between these two clues is that Chen Shunjun hires Xiao-li carrying bricks by her three-wheel cart.The second clue can offer a clear reference for peasant’s living condition.I think this fiction film can function as a documentary film that records the living of Chinese peasants nowadays, and the Christian’s spiritual life of Chinese peasants.The story uncovers itself as it develops.C. About the charactersLiberation and redemption, there are essential differences between them.The Ten Commandments says: You shall not commit murder. Xiao-li give up any medical treatment for Xiao-ling, as a matter of fact, she kills her husband.It seems that Xiao-li’s daily life is not disturbed by this at all. And we hardly see any signs when she takes the action but not only a decision. We do not know what struggles in her mind.As to her sin, I don’t think she does not have enough thought. On the contrary, she knows it well.She takes this action is not only for the poor condition she is in, what’s more, she has got pure and simple confidence to God’s redemption.Protestant is a religion about redemption. And all sins can be forgiven—this is the meaning of that Jesus is crucified. To Xiao-li, it is not important no matter what kind of opinions we have of her.In my view, I can only say, I think that my estimate of her sensibility is right.It is God who makes the judgment.