Ermo

For the town in Brazil, see Ermo, Santa Catarina.
Ermo
Directed by Zhou Xiaowen
Produced by Chen Kunming
Jimmy Tan
Written by Xu Baoqi
Lang Yun
Starring Ai Liya
Liu Peiqi
Cinematography Lu Gengxin
Edited by Zhong Furon
Release dates
 August 1994 (Canada)
12 May 1995 (U.S.)
23 June 1995 (UK)
Running time
 98 min
Language Mandarin

Ermo (Chinese: 二嫫; pinyin: Èrmó) is a Chinese comedy/drama film, released in 1994 and directed by Zhou Xiaowen. It is essentially a satire on Western consumerism and its influence on Chinese culture.

It was adapted from a novella written by Xu Baoqi. Tan Ye and Yun Zhu, authors of Historical Dictionary of Chinese Cinema, wrote that Ermo "observes the new trends of capitalism and consumerism in rural China at the beginning of the reform era".[1]

Development

Zhou Xiaowen, the director, said that "In China, money was once a synonym for filth. Now money has become a god. But will [this god] be able to satisfy his people?"[2]

Plot

Ermo is a hardworking village woman in the northern province of Hebei, who makes noodles to feed her husband and child. When her neighbor buys a brand new television, she is consumed by dreams of owning one herself. Desperate to own the largest television in the village, she becomes obsessive in her desire to earn money, eventually leaving the village to work in town. Her efforts to earn enough money damages her health and her relationship with her family.

The film demonstrates new trends and changes the Chinese society during the reform era and the different attitudes between those who joined the capitalist race and those who remained behind. Ermo becomes a wise merchant (even if she only sells dry noodles) and a consumer full of aspirations, while her elder husband still drinks his Chinese medicine and sees himself as the former head of village, a role which was meaningful during the Mao era. While Ermo is becoming more and more attracted to Xiazi, her business-oriented neighbor, and the lifestyle he represents, her husband remains impotent, both physically and metaphorically. As the film progresses it is evident that the competent capitalist-minded characters also do not find satisfaction, though it is also clear that those who don't join the race are completely irrelevant in the modern society.

Filming

Public Secrets, Public Spaces: Cinema and Civility in China, wrote that the narrative's space in Ermo has a "sense of desperation and inevitability" because the film's narrative was "filmed in a series of claustrophobic places".[3]

Purpose

Felix Thompson, the author of "Journeying in the Third World", wrote that the film questions the concept of progress by juxtaposing individualism and collectivism.[4]

The main thematical element of Ermo is consumer behavior.[5]

Characters

Reception

During the 1994 Locarno International Film Festival the film won the Swissair/Crossair Special Prize and the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury.[6]

DVD release

The film has yet to be released onto DVD in the United States. It has, however, been released on VHS in the U.S.

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 Ye and Zhu, p. 51. "Adapted from Xu Baoqi's novella, the film observes the new trends of capitalism and consumerism in rural China at the beginning of the reform era."
  2. 1 2 3 4 Silbergeld, p. 91.
  3. ↑ Donald, p. 122.
  4. 1 2 Thompson, p. 226.
  5. 1 2 3 Pan, Yigang, p. 156.
  6. ↑ Ye and Zhu, p. 52.

Further reading

External links

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