User reviews

This movie is one of the few great movies to come out of China during Mao's rule. No doubt this movie has propaganda material, but people in China appreciate this film because it was one of the few subtle propaganda films that contained more artistic direction than blatant brainwashing. What the hater of this movie (the other reviewer) does not realize is that Five Golden Flowers was made before Communist China demonized the artist. So this was when actors and creative people could express themselves (provided they talked the party line). If you traced Chinese history to a couple of years later, then you would not have seen anything resembling an artistic movie. Once the cultural revolution started in China, artists starved and so much talent went to waste. It is essential that you look at this film within the context of nostalgia. This is when the people in China still believed in Communism and thought the future was bright and beautiful. The universal themes mentioned in this movie are timeless. Cultural misunderstanding is a huge source of humor in the plot, and in the end, the movie teaches us the importance of stepping into the shoes of unfamiliar cultures and seeing their views. The acting was also very good. Throughout the movie I rooted for the two protagonists to get together, and I was so happy when it did occur. The humor was very non-typical. One of the funniest scenes was when the wife of a villager cursed out the protagonist in song. So in summary, watch this movie. It is well-written, it is funny, and it represents China at a time before things really got crazy.

The literal translation of the title of this movie is: Five Golden Flowers.

Golden Flower is a very common name for girls, and by showing the romance seeking A Peng's journey, the movie actually serves as a political propaganda for the Great Leap Forward movement launched by Mao.

This movie made in the later era of the Great Leap Forward is unique in that it follows the format of those political propaganda made in the early era of the Great Leap Forward movement, so there is not any common topic of defeating the opposition to the movement that is common among the political propaganda in the later era of the Great Leap Forward, and coupled with the ostensibly romance and love story, this movie can easily fools the audience for Mao.