by Clarke Fountain
synopsis
Li Huiqian (Jiang Wen) has been out of circulation for quite a few years, because he has been a prisoner. On his release, he returns to the family home that he grew up in. Only a couple of elderly aunts remain there. He has difficulty dealing with the new money-and-profit orientation of everyone around him, but is able to find a job as a clothes-seller. He gradually wises up to the ways of the people around them, but not quickly enough to keep him from doing some really stupid things. In particular, he falls in love with a much more sophisticated singer whose career is on the rise, and nothing seems to go right for him in that relationship.
