Shun LI And The Poet (2012)
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48% want to see it
(48 ratings)
Two outsiders become unlikely friends in this drama from filmmaker Andrea Segre. Shun Li (Zhao Tao) is a thirtysomething single mother from China who has come to Italy in the hope of providing a better life for herself and her son. However, Shun Li has partnered with an unscrupulous employment… More Two outsiders become unlikely friends in this drama from filmmaker Andrea Segre. Shun Li (Zhao Tao) is a thirtysomething single mother from China who has come to Italy in the hope of providing a better life for herself and her son. However, Shun Li has partnered with an unscrupulous employment agency that shifts her from job to job and makes it difficult for her to pay her fees so she can make enough money to bring her son to Italy. She works as a barmaid in a shabby waterfront tavern in the fishing village of Chioggia; there, she meets Bepi (Rade Serbedzija), an exile from Eastern Europe who has a fondness for poetry and pens doggerel verse himself. Shun Li shares with Bepi stories of Qu Yuan, China's most celebrated poet, and the two strike up a friendship that has the potential to become something more. However, the Chioggia natives make it clear that they don't approve of Shun Li and Bepi's budding relationship, especially given their suspicions about her Chinese heritage. Io sono Li (aka Shun Li and the Poet or Li and the Poet) earned Zhao Tao Best Actress honors at the 2012 David di Donatello Awards. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Directed By
- Andrea Segre
- Genres
- Drama
Unrated,
- Studio
- First Run Features
Critic Reviews
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Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
There is not much happiness in the lives of these two people, but they have each other.
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Guy Lodge, Variety
A thin but attractively opalescent immigrant study, prioritizing exquisite, atmospheric detail over the bigger picture.
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Don Groves, sbs.com.au
Lyrical, moving saga of a fragile friendship amid cultural alienation and prejudice
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Kent Turner, Film-Forward.com
Quietly moving and unassuming
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Cast
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Tao Zhao
as Shun Li
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Rade Serbedzija
as Bepi the Poet
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Marco Paolini
as Coppe
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Roberto Citran
as Lawyer
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Giuseppe Battiston
as Devis
- Giordano Bacci
- Spartaco Mainardi
- Zhong Cheng
- Wang Yuan
- Amleto Voltolina
- Andrea Pennachi
- Wu Guo Qiang
- Sara Perini
- Federico Hu
- Zhao Tao
- Rade Sherbediga
