Gao Kao 1977
Wang Xuebing, Zhou Xianxin, Sun Haiying, Zhao Youliang
Director: Jiang Haiyang
An important chapter in China's intellectual history is effectively dramatised in this nostalgic look at the post-Cultural Revolution resumption of the competitive university entrance exams (or gao kao). Its dry title to the contrary, the subject matter is loaded with political passions far removed from ivory towers.
The film's would-be students are members of the lost generation of zhiqing ('intellectual youth'), urbanites exiled to the countryside during the revolution (1966-76) with few prospects for returning home let alone higher education. The fall of the Gang of Four and rise of Deng Xiaoping brought about great change but not without further struggles as those in power proved reluctant to cede their authority.
Director Jiang Haiyang, who sat for the 1977 exam and went on to the Beijing Film Academy alongside Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige in the legendary Class of 1978, is uniquely suited to tell the story. Set in a remote collective in Heilongjiang, the zhiqing at the scenario's centre must overcome seemingly insurmountable barriers, from obtaining previously banned study books to receiving permission to attend the exam.