Up until the Red Army put a stop to it in 1950s, slavery was regularly practiced in certain remote corners of China. Noted filmmaker Yim Ho adapts a real live incident into this drama about an American GI named James Wood (John X. Heart) unfortunate enough to be kidnapped and sold to the Shama clan, living high up in the mountains in the southwest of the country. Dubbed "La Tie" by the locals, James was treated like an exotic animal and forced to endure hours of backbreaking labor. Later, the tribe buys another slave, a beautiful lass named Niu Niu (Zhang Lutong). Soon she and James fall in love. Yet when James is caught in compromising positions with the chief's daughter, he is shipped off to another village, away from Niu Niu. When the Communists end the slavery and set James free, he is reunited with his love.
by Jonathan Crow
synopsis
