Hu Jian

A CCTV-commissioned, 8-part series shot between 1988 and 1990, but barred from being released after the events of June 4th. A production of the Structure, Wave, Youth, Cinema Experimental Group, an informal collective of young filmmakers founded in 1989 and devoted to the production of documentaries, that includes: this series' two directors, Shi Jian and Chen Jue, as well as Wang Guangli, cinematographers Wang Hongyou and Zhao Baohong, and others like Meng Weidong and Wang Fei. The series documents various aspects of life surrounding Tiananmen: survivors of the imperial era, street performers, grandmothers cooking for their families, fledgling entrepreneurs, fashion school students, foreigners marrying Chinese nationals, and so forth. Each episode starts with a close-up of a giant portrait of Mao hung over the Square, and proceeds as a hybrid of archival footage, direct cinema, and cinema verité, weaving a permanent dialectic between the present and the past, daily life and history.

During the chaotic period towards the end of the Tang Dynasty, the Prince of Liang usurped power and secretly eliminated the heir to the throne. Tian Anye, a humble charcoal seller, unintentionally gets entangled in this conspiracy. In a series of intense battles where allies and enemies become blurred, the secrets hidden within Tian Anye and the truth behind the sacrifice of the people in Liang City are unveiled. In the end, Tian Anye fights against the imperial soldiers, saving a mother and child and escaping from the city of Chang'an.