A film by Yung Chang
“I chose to tell this story not only because the subject was boxing, but the story was about respect, honour, and perseverance – virtues at their greatest test in a changingChina…”
– director Yung Chang
Opens in Toronto, Friday, May 11th at Varsity Cinemas
In centralChina, a Master coach recruits poor rural teenagers and turns them into Western-style boxing champions. Through hard work and discipline, these boys and girls come of age, trained in the art of boxing and the game of life.
These young teens arrive with Olympic dreams, hoping to become China’s next amateur heroes.
But the pull of professionalism also weighs upon their shoulders. Their coach Qi Moxiang, hopes to make a storied comeback in a final pro fight, to show them the way. The top student boxers face dramatic choices as they graduate – should they fight for the collective good as amateurs, or for themselves and their own personal gain as professionals? It’s a metaphor for the choices that everyone faces now, in the New China.
“From Up the Yangtze,” says director Yung Chang, “I learned that your subject doesn’t have to say much in order to have depth; I like the story in unspoken silences.”
The film follows young boxing hopefuls,Miao Yunfei and He Zongli who Chang’s crew discovered from a school inHuili County,SichuanProvince,that has produced 200 champions in 20 years. Miao’s family was quite successful as tobacco farmers and He Zongli’s family were poor subsistence farmers. Their personalities were polar opposites with Miao outgoing and Zongli quiet and introverted, and these traits translated to their fighting personas.
“In China Heavyweight,” says Chang. “I use the genre of boxing to tell a bigger story. Embedded within the human drama unfolding between the two students and the coach, is a commentary on modernChina. InChina, you fight for your country; but with boxing, the bottom line is that you’re fighting for yourself. This story becomes a metaphor for nationalism vs. individualism. But at the heart of the film, it’s really about the relationship between Coach Qi and his students. It’s enough to walk-away with a greater sense of honor, about the role of mentors and teachers, and about perseverance.”
Top picture: Qi Moxiang training in Huili County, Liangshan Prefecture, Sichuan Province.
Photo credit: Sun Shaoguang. 2011
[wpsr_facebook][wpsr_retweet][wpsr_plusone][wpsr_sharethis]