Get Reel | Film review: The Golden Era, a biopic of Zhang Naiying (Xiao Hong), lacks humanity

and turbulent times of Zhang Naiying (1911-42) would appear to make for ideal movie material — and would do so even if she hadn't written Chinese literary masterpieces such as The Field of Life and Death and Tales of the Hulan River under the pseudonym Xiao Hong.

So it's no surprise that two respected filmmakers have been inspired to make films about her in recent years.

Mainland director Huo Jianqi's Xiao Hong biopic, Falling Flowers, opened on March 8 — International Women's Day — last year. Now Hong Kong's Ann Hui On-wah has followed suit, with The Golden Era, which had its world premiere at the recent Venice Film Festival. Its release date here and in the mainland is October 1, China's National Day.

A far cry from the auteur's acclaimed intimate local offerings such as A Simple Life and The Way We Are, this period drama focuses on the last decade of Xiao Hong's short life — one that saw the itinerant writer spend time in her native Manchuria, Beijing (where she fled with her first lover), Harbin (where she met the love of her life), Qingdao, Shanghai, Tokyo, Wuhan, Xian, Chongqing, and Hong Kong.

A film that emits a distinctive art house vibe, The Golden Era begins with a short black-and-white segment in which Xiao Hong (Tang Wei) breaks the "fourth wall" to tell the audience directly about key events in her life, including her death at the age of 30 in Japanese-occupied Hong Kong.

The opening five minutes are all that's needed to establish that her life was full of drama, upheaval and movement — and not much happiness at all.