Youth (2017 film)


Youth is a 2017 Chinese coming-of-age drama film directed by Feng Xiaogang and written by Geling Yan. The film is based on Yan's semi-autobiographical story You Touched Me. It was screened in the Special Presentations section at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival. It was scheduled to be released in China on October 1, 2017, but after previews in Beijing and other cities was pulled from the National Day schedule. It was released on 15 December 2017.
Youth grossed over $235 million worldwide, becoming the sixth highest-grossing Chinese film of 2017.

Synopsis

The film chronicles the lives of a group of idealistic adolescents in a military art troupe in the People's Liberation Army during the Cultural Revolution. They experience love, lust, betrayal, and sufferings in the background of Mao era songs and dances. Through the narration of Xiao Suizi, the film follows the story of two key characters, Feng Liu and He Xiaoping. Xiaoping is a naive and innocent new recruit from Beijing, and Feng Liu is a morally impeccable character, whose comrades praise for being a real life Lei Feng. The pair also participate in the Sino-Vietnamese War in 1979 and become heroes for their act of courage.
Xiaoping eventually becomes the target of her roommates bullying for her provincial naive mannerisms. The majority of the acts are spearheaded by Hao Shuwen, the daughter of the regional commander.
After the war, they are honorably discharged from the Army but struggle to make ends meet in the Reform-era China while they learn lessons from soul-crushing experiences of love, lust, betrayal, and heartbreak.

Cast

  • Huang Xuan as Liu Feng
  • Miao Miao as He Xiaoping
  • Zhong Chuxi as Xiao Suizi
  • Yang Caiyu as Lin Dingding
  • Li Xiaofeng as Hao Shuwen
  • Wang Tianchen as Chen Can
  • Wang Keru as Xiao Balei
  • Su Yan as the dance teacher
  • Zhao Lixin as the commissar
  • Sui Yuan as Zhuoma
  • Zhang Renbo as Zhu Ke
  • Zhou Fang as the head nurse
  • Xue Qi as Secretary Wu
  • Yang Shuo as the military chief
  • Tao Hai as the Psychiatrist

    Awards and nominations

Externals

Category:2017 films
Category:Chinese coming-of-age drama films
Category:Films directed by Feng Xiaogang
Category:Films with screenplays by Geling Yan
Category:Huayi Brothers films
Category:Chinese IMAX films
Category:Films about communism
Category:Films set in the 1970s
Category:Sino-Vietnamese War films
Category:2010s coming-of-age drama films
Category:Best Film Asian Film Award winners
Category:2017 drama films
Category:2010s Mandarin-language films
Category:2017 Chinese films
Category:Films about the People's Liberation Army
Category:Films about the Cultural Revolution