The Herdsman

A veritable orgy of nationalism and melodrama....the common thread throughout 90% of Xie Jin's films. The notable exception is Furong Zhen.

A sent down youth finds love and happiness in the inner Mongolia countryside. The father who abandoned the family years earlier returns from abroad, now a wealthy capitalist, and summons his son to meet him in Beijing. Our protagonist is compelled choose between joining his father in the USA and claiming his inheritance, or returning to adoring wife and cuddly son and the idyllic life as a herdsman.

Setting aside the Hallmark-like indulgences of the director, the film can be viewed as a commentary on temptations of the West as China reopened to western cultural influences and opened the door to study abroad.