The movie I will focus on is “Coming Home” by Zhang Yimou. It is about a family’s struggles and the aftermath of the end of The Cultural Revolution. This movie depicts how The Cultural Revolution caused upheaval and had family members turned against each other. In the movie, the daughter turned against the father because she wanted to be the lead in the play and due to her background, she was prevented from having the lead role. The end of The Cultural Revolution left many who participated as victims, further adding to the disillusionment. In my class, I would show the beginning clip, where it talked about Mao Zedong’s Thoughts and how his thoughts helped the people in China. The next part would be when the Revolution came to an end and the father returning home to find out that his family is now broken. I want the students to see the contrast of The Cultural Revolution and its impact on the participants.
This seems like an interesting one, maybe I can use it if I can make it to my Unit, school year goes so fast!