Huan Huan

Huan Huan

2012. China. Directed by Song Chuan. With Liu Xiang, Tian Yuefang. Everyone has something on everyone else in Song Chuan’s touching debut film. Stuck in a rural village, Huan Huan hopes her affair with a married doctor in town will lead to a better life in the city. Her brother has been away for years—and with no male labor at home, her parents don’t want her to leave—so she marries a compulsive gambler. When the doctor’s wife, a big deal in the local government, catches them in the act, she makes life difficult for Huan Huan’s family. And when Huan Huan’s husband discovers the affair, things get even stickier. More than a soap opera, this beautifully shot film captures the dreams and desires, disappointments and regrets, of a life not fully lived. In Mandarin; English subtitles. 83 min.