***1/2

When exploding population pushed cities throughout China to the limit of what they could handle, a solution was came out. Millions of teenage boys and girls were systematically sent to the countryside to live and do farming work, with their bare hands. They were told it was for them to make better contribution to the nation and they were there for being re-educated. The movement started in 1955 and reached the climax in the late 1960's. They are called Zhi Qing, or intellectuals youths.

Story of The Foliage starts in 1974, at a rubber tree plantation near Vietnamese boarder, where hundreds of zhi qing from the cities live and work in militarized units. As the film starts, Ye Xingyu (Shu Qi) is asking the regiment leader to allow her returning home to take care of her almost paralyzed father. She gets no answer.  On the bus back to her unit, she meets Liu Simeng (Liu Ye), a handsome guy who seems having very positive attitude toward the life in the largely uninhabited mountains. They do not fall in love right away, because she already has a boyfriend, Yuan Dingguo (Fang Bin), a friend since childhood, and he is from a rival platoon. As the romance between them is building up day by day, the conflict between their platoons is also elevating. When everything finally settle down, their relationship has also run into a sudden end. Ye Xingyu is allowed to return to her city and later marries to Yuan, who also returns home along with most zhi qing, after  the Cultural Revolution ends. However, a family and a daughter cannot make Ye Xingyu forget the time she spent with Liu Simeng.

The Foliage is based on a novel and screenplay by Shi Xiaoke, who has been living in the States since 1986. Director Lü Yue belongs to the Fifth Generation of Chinese filmmakers. He was the cinematographer of over a dozen films, including To Live, Shanghai Triad and Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl. in 1996, Lü Yue was nominated for the Best Cinematographer for his work in Shanghai Triad. Both men grew up during the time of the Cultural Revolution.

This film tells a very simple and very quiet story - No surprise, no big dramatic moment, and no rollercoasting plotl. The only thing offered in the film is a very light and soft memory someone wants to share with us. The back stories have been tuned down - impact of the cultural revolution is very limited and work at the plantation even seems a little bit enjoyable. Cultural revolution, somehow, is still a sensitive subject in today's China. The way to make the film has also remained simple and straightforward. Lü Yue does show too many camera tricks, even though he is capable of doing so. And, there is no music specifically composed for the film. Instead, recorded songs and radio broadcasting are used to show the imprint left by each time frame.

Shu Qi's performance really gives me a surprise. From her early one dimensional roles in cheap Hong Kong B-flicks to this film, in which she has to handle a role, sharing absolutely no similarity to her own life. People who has already known Shu Qi would fall in love with her again. Liu Ye did his part very well, as always. As a young actor, he has already made himself a household name in China. This film is clearly a prove for predicting an even brighter future of him.

By the end of the film, Ye Xingyu and Liu Simeng meet again, in the same mountain where their plantation once existed. She is there to bury her late husband's ash and he has been asked to attend the ceremony, by her husband's wish. It seems they just get another chance, but what would happen to them the next does not belongs to this film.

Reviewed by Meng Ye