Cheng Nan Jiu Shi on AllMovie

In this look back on the 1930s when Beijing ("northern capital") was spelled Peking, when Mao and the Kuomingtang were fighting, and Japanese forces were making inroads on Chinese soil, a Taiwanese-born woman remembers the difficult times. She recalls how children were sold off by their poverty-stricken parents, how students were killed by the police, and how people stole to survive. But against this background is a romantic love affair that flourishes in spite of the decade's many crises. This film won the top prize at the 1983 Manila Film Festival, although for many Western viewers, its characters may seem one-dimensional.