King of the Children

1987 1h 47m ZH

👍

7.0

SOLID

★7.0TMDB · 27

Drama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

An unschooled young man, one of the countless victims of Mao's Cultural Revolution, is laboring in the countryside when he is assigned to teach in a nearby school. Gradually, he abandons the Maoist textbook and encourages the barely literate kids to write about their own lives and feelings.

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

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Cast

Xie Yuan
Lao Gar
Xuewen Yang
Wang Fu
Shaohua Chen
Headmaster Chen
Caimei Zhang
Laidi
Xu Guoqing
Lao Hei
Gu Changwei
Secretary Wu

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Chen Kaige
Writers: Chen Kaige, He Jianjun
Languages: Mandarin
Countries: China

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

39 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

CRAFT

Did you know

Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Chen Kaige, shot by Gu Changwei. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Qu Xiaosong. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Miaomiao Liu shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Xie Yuan and Xuewen Yang and Shaohua Chen carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0093133 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

Only 27 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Chen Kaige directs. Gu Changwei behind the camera. Qu Xiaosong scores. Miaomiao Liu cuts. Produced in China. Dialogue in Mandarin.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

139 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
2Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.
3Directed by Chen Kaige, shot by Gu Changwei. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Qu Xiaosong. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Miaomiao Liu shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Xie Yuan and Xuewen Yang and Shaohua Chen carry the top of the cast.
7IMDB entry: tt0093133 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8Only 27 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.