Synopsis

The film depicts the story of a young man named Yun in a village called Xiaoyi along the Yellow River. Like other children in rural areas, Yun was born into a hardworking and impoverished farming family. However, Yun was intelligent and restless, pitying and even despising the environment that raised him. He came to Guangzhou and reluctantly joined the underworld, engaging in robbery and murder. During a police operation, their leader was killed, and Yun was captured. When his family received the news, they heard no updates for two years, and people in the village speculated that he had been killed long ago. The first part of the film mainly documents the life of Yun's parents after the incident, full of pain, sorrow, and melancholy, but not yet devoid of hope. The director tightens your heart with each passing moment. The tone becomes brighter in the second part, as Yun finally receives news and is sentenced to three years. His father makes arduous efforts to visit him, but is denied access. When Yun is released, there is a long shot of a tall and handsome young man. Yun resembles a triumphant hero, recounting the beauty of the outside world. His parents hope that Yun will settle down, get married, and have children, but Yun feels that he doesn't belong to his hometown. In the end, his inner desire for success leads him back to Guangzhou.