| Woman Sesame Oil Maker | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Film poster | |||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 香魂女 | ||||||
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| Directed by | Xie Fei | ||||||
| Written by | Xie Fei | ||||||
| Story by | Zhou Daxin | ||||||
| Starring | Siqin Gaowa | ||||||
| Cinematography | Bao Xiaoran | ||||||
| Music by | Wang Liping | ||||||
| Distributed by | Facets Multimedia (Region 1 DVD) | ||||||
Release dates |
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Running time | 105 minutes | ||||||
| Country | China | ||||||
| Language | Mandarin | ||||||
Woman Sesame Oil Maker (Chinese:香魂女;pinyin:Xiāng hún nǚ) is a 1993Chinese film. In theEnglish speaking world it has been released in theUnited Kingdom under the titleWomen from the Lake of Scented Souls (the more literal translation) and more recently onDVD asWoman Sesame Oil Maker. It is adapted from a novel byZhou Daxin, "The Fragrant Oil Mill by the Lake of Scented Souls" (香魂塘畔的香油坊).
The film is adapted and directed byXie Fei and tells the story of a woman in a small village inHebei[1] who runs a smallsesame oil business that becomes unexpectedly successful, but who then uses her money to buy for her mentally disabled son a peasant bride.
The film won theGolden Bear for Best Film at the43rd Berlin International Film Festival in 1993, a prize it shared withAng Lee'sThe Wedding Banquet.[2][3]
Illiterate villager Second Sister Xiang (Siqin Gaowa) was sold as atongyangxi (child bride) to her present husband, a man with a lame leg, when she was seven. She has an intellectually disabled son Dunzi, who suffers fromepileptic fits and is now grown up, and a younger daughter Zhi'er. Through her diligence she has started a successful sesame oil mill and now becomes the richest person in her village.
A Japanese businesswoman decides to invest in her business after visiting her mill. Meanwhile, Sister Xiang tries to find a bride for her son. She engineers her son's marriage with Huanhuan (Wu Yujuan), a peasant girl whose family is in dire financial straits.
One night, Dunzi nearly strangles Huanhuan to death during a fit. Huanhuan runs back home, but her mother-in-law makes sure she returns. Huanhuan witnesses her drunk father-in-law beating Sister Xiang in bed. She also chances on Sister Xiang in anadulterous affair with family friend Ren, who fathered her daughter Zhi'er.
Ren later initiates a break-up with Sister Xiang. Sister Xiang falls ill. She is heartbroken, despite her sesame oil being awarded top prize by the provincial government.
Sister Xiang gradually realizes that Huanhuan, like her, suffers as a kindred spirit. She decides to release Huanhuan by asking Huanhuan to go for adivorce. But Huanhuan states that her life is already ruined. She then breaks down.
