St Peter de Merton Church, St Peters Street, Bedford

7pm

The film takes place in a rural village in China's eastern province of Shandong during the Second Sino-Japanese War. It is narrated from the point of view of the protagonist’s grandson, who reminisces about his grandmother, Jiu'er. She was a poor girl who was sent by her parents into a pre-arranged marriage with an old man, Li Datou, who owns a distillery. When he dies, she takes over the distillery and after many ups and downs manages to make it a success. Then brutal reality breaks in as the Japanese army invades and kills one of the most respected workers. In a desperate attempt to avenge his death Jiu’er and most of the workers die. Only one of the workers and Jiu’er’s infant son manage to survive.

The film won the Golden Bear at the 1988 Berlin Film Festival. Roger Elbert in his review wrote: "There is a strength in the simplicity of this story, in the almost fairy-tale quality of its images and the shocking suddenness of its violence, that Hollywood in its sophistication has lost."