Friday, August 9, 2013

Woman Basketball Player No.5

Watched a good, early Communist era film this evening: the fabulously titled Woman Basketball Player No.5. Tian Zhenhua had been a star basketball player in Shanghai and had fallen in love with the best player in the women's team, Lin Jie. But when his boss took a bribe to throw a match and he had refused to play badly, he was beaten up afterwards. His beloved was forced to marry someone else and both he and Lin Jie went their separate ways.
Eighteen years later he finds himself appointed coach of a new-look Shanghai female basketball team, including (unbeknownst to him) Lin Jie's daughter Lin Xiaojie. Soon enough all is revealed, matches are won and Tian & Lin (whose dastardly husband is conveniently out of the picture) get back together.
It's a bit cheesy, but a fun, feel-good, fast-paced hour-and-a-half, with great action scenes and any political undertones taking a back seat. Really enjoyable.

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