''Tuya's Marriage'' is a 2006 Chinese film directed by

Wang Quan'an Wang Quan'an () (b. 1965) is a Cinema of China, Sixth Generation China, Chinese film director. Wang was born in Yan'an, China. He graduated from the Beijing Film Academy in 1991. He had a ten-year relationship with actress and muse Yu Nan, which e ...

. The film depicts life in Inner Mongolia, in a region where the decline in groundwater is making life hard for sheep herders. It tells the story of Tuya and her husband, Bater, who agree to divorce in the hope of finding a husband who will be prepared to look after both of them and their children. Nan Yu played the role of Tuya; many male cast members were played by non-actors with the same name as their character.

Storyline

After sheep herder Tuya's husband, Bater, is disabled while digging a well, Tuya takes on herding and water carrying duties to support him and their two young children. She dislocates her back helping an accident prone neighbour, Senge, not for the first time, who is pinned under his light three wheel truck carrying her hay. The injury, exacerbating long term wear, means that further manual work could result in paralysis. Bater suggests they divorce so she can find a man to support all three of them. Tuya eventually must choose between Senge, whose wife has run away, and who says he will divorce her to marry Tuya, and Baolier, a divorced schoolmate of Tuya who has become wealthy after discovering oil, and who prevails after he promises to place Bater in a nursing home. However, Bater feels abandoned and attempts suicide.

Awards

The film won the

Golden Bear The Golden Bear () is the highest prize awarded for the best film at the Berlin International Film Festival and is, along with the Palme d'Or and the Golden Lion, the most important international film festival award. The bear is the heraldic an ...

at the 2007

Berlin Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (), usually called the Berlinale (), is an annual film festival held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europ ...

as well as the 8th Chinese Film Media Awards for Best Film and Best Actress from

Southern Metropolis Daily ''Southern Metropolis Daily'' (SMD) is a for-profit tabloid newspaper located in Guangzhou city, China,Wang, Xiaotong. 2012. "The Comparison Between Newspapers In Hong Kong And Mainland And Its Enlightenment – A Case Study On Apple Daily And ...

Critical reception

The film received generally positive reviews from Western critics. The review aggregator

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

reported that 90% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 30 reviews.

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

reported the film had an average score of 71 out of 100, based on 13 reviews. The film was a

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

Critic's Pick.

Credits

Director: Quan'an Wang Writers: Wei Lu, Quan'an Wang Cast: Tuya: Nan Yu Bater: Ba'toer Senge: Sen'ge Baolier: Bao'lier

References

External links

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''Tuya's Marriage''
at the 2007

Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (), usually called the Berlinale (), is an annual film festival held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europ ...

Chinese drama films 2000s Chinese films 2006 films Golden Bear winners 2006 drama films 2000s Mandarin-language films Films directed by Wang Quan'an {{2000s-drama-film-stub