A four-year-old boy is sent to a boarding nursery school in Maoist China where he has to share a dormitory with a hundred other children, male and female. The school's equivalent of gold stars are "little red flowers", which are awarded to anyone who can get dressed without any help, and to anyone who does a healthy "poop" first thing in the morning. It's really quite cute for a film which looks set to be a Dickensian exposé.
The documentary-like view of children in an unfamiliar environment lends it some of the appeal of Etre et avoir and Cave of the Yellow Dog, although I lost track of the story halfway through.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments