Wangliang's Ideal

Summer 2009, a mountain village in southern China. Although a simple and honest butcher named Wang Liang has been living with his wife Li Qiao for several months, they have yet to consummate their marriage. Young Li Qiao is more interested in her university entrance exam than in sex because if she gets pregnant her dream of studying will be lost. Wang Liang can no longer bear the situation but Li Qiao is adamant. She moves to the city to try to start a new life, but her husband refuses to accept her decision.... Director and screenwriter Xiongjie Gao has shot a picture about two ordinary people’s unfulfilled ideals, a reality shared to a certain extent by numerous inhabitants of contemporary China. Told in the style of an old ballad, the story shows the hardships of living in a rapidly developing country. The headlong urbanization is a tempting opportunity for many but also a danger because the dreams it offers don’t always come to fruition. (Karlovy Vary International Film Festival)