Seventeen Years

Seventeen Years is a 1999 Chinese film directed by Zhang Yuan and starring Li Bingbing in her feature film debut. Seventeen Years was screened at several international film festivals where it garnered numerous accolades, including the Director's Award at the 56th Venice Film Festival. The film is co-produced by Keetman Limited (China) and Fabrica (Italy), as presented by Keetman and the Xi'an Film Studio. It premiered concurrently with Zhang Yuan's documentary feature, Crazy English in the 1999 Locarno International Film Festival. Seventeen Years is seen, at least by some critics, as Zhang Yuan's move away from his "Bad Boy" image, an image that was cultivated after run-ins with Chinese authorities with his previous films, Beijing Bastards, and the homosexual-themed East Palace, West Palace. In contrast, Seventeen Years (and Crazy English) was produced under the aegis of the Chinese bureaucracy, though some editing of the film was required before it could be released. Cast Li Jun as Tao Xiaolan, a young woman whose accidental murder of her stepsister leads to a seventeen-year prison sentence. Li Bingbing as Chen Jie, a prison guard who takes pity on Xiaolan and helps her find her parents. Liu Lin as Yu Xiaoqin, Xiaolan's stepsister. Liang Song as Father Le Yeping as Mother