Screening: King of the Children

The Chinese film "King of the Children" will be screened at University of Chicago.

Adapted from the novella by Ah Cheng, the film is set in a remote mountain village during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976). Lao Gan, an educated youth is sent to a village school to teach, an activity that consists mostly of making students write down hypocritical political propaganda that they do not understand and he does not know how to explain. A top student criticizes the teacher and offers to teach him how to teach. Eventually Lao Gan abandons political education and instead gets his students to learn from nature—their own inner nature and the ancient landscape around themEventually Lao Gan is forced to resign from his teaching post due to his unorthodox teaching methods. Nominated for the Golden Palm at the 1988 Cannes Film Festival, King of the Children excels with its ironic humor, stark and beautiful cinematography, and high metaphorical and artistic ambitions.