The Postmodern Life of My Aunt (Yi ma de hou xian dai sheng huo) poster & wallpaper

Chow Yun Fat, Gaowa Siqin, Wei Zhao

A swindler falls in love with a potential target

Flixster Users

74% liked it

937 ratings

Unrated, 1 hr. 51 min.

Directed by: Ann Hui

Release Date: September 8, 2006

Invite friends to see

Stats: 102 reviews

Get movie widget Recommend it Add to Favorites
report incorrect info

Photos

None yet... Got one?

Your Rating


clear rating
Share on: Facebook Twitter

Flixster Reviews (102)

  • groaningbitch
    February 14, 2009
    groaningbitch
    since wwi, the orient, especially the far east, has become the colonial prey of occiental domination, and frankly such aggression has only been deepened by the progress of globalization(from material level to ideological standard) which is a beauitified utopian term of cultural a...( read more)ssimilation, to diminish the tribal characteristic then create a homogenic mode for people in various ethnicities. despite the orient does possess great exotic fascination over the occient, but merely in a superficial level, which manifests in various highly popularized yellow-face movies with oriental themes like kung-fu, samurai, geisha. (i mislike to mention samurai and geisha becuz it's jap, but to the western mass, what's so different between jap, korean and chinese? just like my compatriots ignorantly dismiss every caucasian as american.) in the international market, asian directors are eager to make period pieces like red cliff, crouching tiger and hidden dragon, the curse of gold flower...etc, but they're campy ridicules to gratify audience's oriental dreams.

    the term "multiculturalism" arised around the 60s with the raging countercultural phenomenon of beat generaion, worship of zen and orientalism as the apparatus against the conventional anglo-saxon culture, so the point is they just desire to revolt against the orthodox by showing off their fascination over the orient, such as jack kerouac has acclaimed himself as buddhist...such rebel spirit still exists nowadays, just like great many of my hipster flixster pals are fanatic to foreign, non-american movies and some hong-kong old martial movies made by the shaw company to flaunt how cool and unique they're. honestly it leaves me callous because none of those oriental movies has manifested a bit of authenticity but magnify its eccentricity to serve audience's wanders of curiosity as if we're freaks and monsters for demonstrations.

    "the postmodern life of my aunt" is the only chinese movie i've seen recently, which really contains three-dimensional protagonists and genuine paradox of cultural reflections, it's about the disillusion of a middle-age woman's metropolitan aspiration, how she decays and awakened from a false fancy of intellectual smugness. i feel awkward to elucidate further since the appreciated audience belongs to those who identify themselves as chinese, those with great absorption of its cultural sophistication, or everything might appear un-comprehesible and drab to the outsiders.

    this movie doesn't sell in taiwan and hong-kong despite the residents are all chinese by blood, the cultural identification has patheticaly disintegrated. letting alone chinese americans or any other dispersed chinese all over the world. (but it's a smashing hit in mainland china.) also none of my flixster pals has seen it or want to see it, perhaps i should feel complacently consoled by this lack of popularity because it means its exclusiveness, and every country should have movies like this as cultural preservations. just like "creature from the black lagoon" is an ultimte american b classic for kids who grew up watching every saturday's monster flicks on tv. to non-american foreigners, it might appear laughably obsolete.
  • ripplecloud
    December 28, 2007
    ripplecloud
    I'm not too enthusiastic about melancholic China movies in general, which is the direction that this movie is headed in its later half.

    The story is simple enough. Kuankuan's aunt, otherwise nameless, is a middle-aged Chinese woman who is proud of her accomplishments (speakin...( read more)g in a British accent and painting among others) yet mindful of conventions and values of civic mindedness. She strives above all to live a poor yet dignified life, so that she can keep her head high among her richer but coarse neighbours.

    Unfortunately China is fast progressing and Shanghai is the city of decaying morals, even if Aunt is staunch in keeping to the old values. She discovers too late the pragmatism of her employers, the amorality and duplicity of the people close to her and her all too exploitable trusting and kindly nature.

    Still retaining some of the idealism of youth and unable to adapt to the changing times, Aunt is well placed as the character that is doomed to fail. Fall she does into a downward spiral of unfortunate events that will take away the very identity that she has fought to build for herself. The postmodern life of aunt shatters irresistably in the face of gritty reality. While slow and somewhat choppy, the movie does convey the painful transition beset on aunt fairly well.

    However, there remains gaps in the storyline that I can't quite reconcile with Aunt's character. For example, if Aunt was truly a kindly person, why did she leave her daughter to go to Shanghai?

    Still although I didn't enjoy the movie that much, it was interesting to see Chow Yun Fatt and Zhao Wei in their respective roles. The music was good too.
  • larukucafe
    March 25, 2007
    larukucafe
    Quite an entertaining yet sad movie. I am giving it 3.5 stars because the story seems a bit fragmented. Gaowa Sigin is absolutely brilliant in the movie... she looks exactly like a see nai in Mainland!! :P
  • k4sindy
    March 18, 2007
    k4sindy
    i always like such kind of movie. Nice and stimulate your thinking. And I like the Chinese context and humor.

View All The Postmodern Life of My Aunt (Yi ma de hou xian dai sheng huo) Reviews

Critic Reviews

No recent reviews.

Comments

This board looks lonely. Be the first to talk about "The Postmodern Life of My Aunt (Yi ma de hou xian dai sheng huo)" !

Post A Comment | View All Comments

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

All Rotten Tomatoes content is used under license from Rotten Tomatoes. Rotten Tomatoes, Certified Fresh, and the Tomatometer are the trademarks of Incfusion Corporation, d/b/a Rotten Tomatoes, a subsidiary of IGN Entertainment, Inc.

Cast

More Like This

Click a thumb to vote on that suggestion, or add your own suggestions.

  • Milyang (Secret Sunshine)
    Milyang (Secret Sunshine) (0%)

More Movies like The Postmodern Life of My Aunt (Yi ma de hou xian dai sheng huo)

Facts

No facts approved yet. Be the first

The Postmodern Li... : Watch Free on TV

The Postmodern Life of My Aunt (Yi ma de hou xian dai sheng huo) Trivia

Movie Quizzes

No quizzes for The Postmodern Life of My Aunt (Yi ma de hou xian dai sheng huo). Want to create one?

Video Clips

No video clips yet. Want to upload one?

Meet Other Fans

Add The Postmodern Life of My Aunt (Yi ma de hou xian dai sheng huo) to favorites

Recent News

No recent headlines. Got one?

Recent Lists

Make a List |

View All Lists

Most Popular Skin

No skins yet. Interested in creating one?