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LIKE A ROLLING STONE

出走的决心

China | 2024 | Drama | 106min

Director: Yin Lichuan

Screenwriter: A Mei, Yin Lichuan

Executive Producer: Wan Juan

Producer: Yi sha

Cinematographer: Jin Chenyu

Editor: Yan Tingting

Art Director: Liu Qiang

Sound: Li Dan-feng, Feng Yueyang

Music: Raymond Wong, Russell C J Wong

Cast: Yong Me, Jiang Wu, Qian, Zhang Benyu

导演:尹丽川

编剧:阿美,尹丽川

总制片人:万娟

制片人:伊莎

摄影指导:金晨煜

剪辑:闫婷婷

美术指导:刘强

声音:李丹枫,冯悦阳

音乐:黄英华,黄正中

演员:咏梅,姜武,吴倩,张本煜

Synopsis
 

Li Hong has dedicated her life to her family, dutifully fulfilling her roles as a good daughter, wife, and mother. Soon, she is set to become a grandmother. Just as Li Hong is about to resign herself to a stagnant life, an unexpected invitation to a high school reunion rekindles her youthful dreams.

Tentatively, she asks to attend the reunion, but her husband vehemently opposes the idea, stirring up decades of unresolved issues between them. Her husband, Sun, has his own rigid definition of marital and familial happiness and fiercely defends what he believes to be right.

For the sake of her pregnant daughter, Li Hong suppresses her dreams once again, fully dedicating herself to the new role of a "good grandmother." The burden of heavy household chores and a hopeless life drives her into depression. In her despair, she discovers another option for her life. She begins to carefully plan a new journey, gradually rediscovering her true self.

Director's Note
 

This film is based on a true story: an ordinary woman from the Central China, at the age of 56, left her family and city behind to embark on a self-driving journey, and she is still on the road today.

 

In the film, she is called "Li Hong," once the most common name. Because around us, there are tens of thousands of Li Hongs: grandmothers, mothers, ourselves, and our daughters, all could be Li Hong. They all face structural challenges of women or similar personal difficulties, and they all hope to have the courage to bring about change.

 

Instead of choosing to create a grand, scenic road movie, we focus on why she left and the struggles and conflicts she faced. This is not a world of clear-cut rights and wrongs. Li Hong is not only confronting a loveless marriage and an oppressive husband; her biggest challenge is the traditional and societal expectations that have shaped her, the demands of her family, and her own self-awareness. She chooses to listen to the voice within: "I want to explore a broader world and find my truest self."

 

Struggles transcend gender, identity, and age, and so does change. We hope this film can offer warmth and encouragement to all who watch it.

Yin Lichuan

A poet, screenwriter, and director, Yin Lichuan graduated from the French Language and Literature Department of Peking University. 

She wrote and directed films like The Park  and Knitting, winning several awards, including the Best Debut Award at the College Student Film Festival, the International Critics Award and Special Jury Recommendation Award at the Mannheim International Film Festival, the Best Film Award at the Uruguay International Film Festival, the Best Director Award at the Silk Road Film Festival in Turkey, and the Best Film Award at the Creteil Women’s Film Festival in France. Her works have been shortlisted for the Directors’ Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival, the main competition at the Moscow International Film Festival, and the Contemporary Films section at the Toronto Film Festival. She was the screenwriter for the film "Under the Hawthorn Tree" and directed the female monologue play "Reshape" and the 30-episode web series My Way.

photo of director Lichuan Yin.jpg

© 2025 by Midnight Blur Films

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