A Chinese classic endures

Xia Yu (right) plays the leading actor in In the Heat of the Sun, the directorial debut of Jiang Wen (top), which will be screened again at Lido (left), as part of the Venice Classics section in the 70th Venice International Film Festival.

History of success

Jiang Wen works on 'Bullets' sequel

Nineteen years after director Jiang Wen's In the Heat of the Sun debuted at the Venice Film Festival to wide acclaim, it will again be screened at the prestigious event, and Jiang will sit on the festival's judging panel. Liu Wei reports.

Chinese actor and director Jiang Wen's directorial debut In the Heat of the Sun had its world premiere in Venice. The film depicting the "cultural revolution" (1966-76) from the perspective of a teenage boy made actor Xia Yu, then 17, the youngest winner of the Best Actor award at the Venice International Film Festival. Nineteen years later, the film will again be screened in Lido as part of the Venice Classics section, featuring 40 restored feature films and documentaries. The restored film has some scenes that were not included in the original version and is about seven minutes longer.

Jiang will also be a member of the judging panel for the festival's 70th edition, which kicked off on Aug 28 and will run for 11 days.

In the 19 years between the two journeys to Venice, Jiang directed only three films. He explored some unpleasant aspects of the Chinese character in Devils on the Doorstep in 1999. The film won the Grand Jury Prize in Cannes but was not released in Chinese theaters.

His poetic drama The Sun also Rises in 2007 won over critics, thanks to its splendid visual wonders and subversive narrative skills, but was not well received at the box office.

But Jiang soon proved he knows about industry, too, by making Let the Bullets Fly in 2011, the first local film to gross more than $100 million in China.

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