A mentally handicapped woman from a remote mountain village in southern China adopts an abandoned baby girl as her own, only to discover just how demanding motherhood can be in this rural-set family drama from director Zhang Jiabei. Cherry is a mentally handicapped woman who is happily married to the hard working Ge Wang - a dedicated laborer with a pronounced limp. Despite the fact that Cherry's handicap limits her official duties to tending the hogs and feeding the chickens, her maternal instincts are much the same as any healthy woman her age. When Cherry happens across a helpless infant girl, she instinctively adopts the foundling in hopes of starting a family. But Ge Wang quickly grows jealous of the attention lavished on the baby, and soon thereafter he hands the child to a kindly looking couple from the city. Upon realizing just how devastating the loss is for the inconsolable Cherry, Ge Wang reluctantly travels back to the city in search of the child. Later, as young Scarlet grows to become a gifted young student, she gradually grows to appreciate her mother's unique qualities.
by Jason Buchanan
synopsis
