Mama
MovieTitle | 妈妈 |
User score | 6.8 |
Release date | May 1, 1990 |
Genre | Drama |
Director | Zhang Yuan |
Production country | China |
Production companies | Xi'an Film Studio |
Run time | 89 min. |
Often cited as China’s first independent feature film, this low-budget drama, filmed largely in the director’s Beijing apartment, depicts the life of a single mother (a topic considered taboo at the time) caring for her mentally challenged son. Shot with a documentary aesthetic that includes interviews with families of mentally challenged persons, the film helped kick-start the Sixth Generation of filmmakers (including Wang Xiaoshuai and Jia Zhangke) and their ethos of employing documentary realism to depict the true conditions of contemporary China.