Shot in gorgeous color, this fascinating communist flipside to fifties Hollywood music biopics chronicles the life and tragic early death of Nie Er, the composer of the PRC’s national anthem.
It is policeman Ma Tianmin’s day off, and his chief’s wife has fixed him up with Liu Ping, a young woman she knows. But, on his way to keep the date, Ma, who embodies all the qualities of an exemplary member of the new communist society, stops many times to help people in need. In a Shanghai...