In The Heat Of The Sun - Once We Were Young

 (1994) ★★★★★

In The Heat Of The Sun, a story about several adolescent men during the Chinese Cultural Revolution in 70s, is one of Two Chinese films that impress me so much. It portrays a positive, vigorous picture of being young and wild, reckless and free, as animals preying for, say, girls, attention, fun, fights and maybe a chance to be heroes. Adapted from Wang Shuo's novel, Wild Beast, the actor-director Jiang Wen tells a mellow, dream-like story of how Monkey and his friends (as shown on the poster) get through those boring but yet crazy summers. I don't really mind if it's authentic or believable. The point is, as a youth while getting to watch it for the first time, I felt like I was part of them. We can never redo our past, no matter how sweet or bitter it is. It's become part of us. We are who we were, aren't we?