1966, My Time in the Red Guards (1993): cast, story & where to watch

Released in 1993, 1966, My Time in the Red Guards is a notable film directed by Wu Wenguang.

What it’s about. More preoccupied with "history" than Wu's other works, My Time in the Red Guards is a record of his fascination with the missed moment, Mao's Cultural Revolution. In 1966, the Red Guards ironically represented the official avant-garde, a movement carried forward by youth determined to become heroes of the Revolution. Wu interviews people who had joined the Red Guards as high schoolers, most now successful professionals, some Party members. The miscalculations and cruelties of this extreme cultural campaign are spread out before us, detailed by personal recollection and further illustrated by old agit-prop newsreels. Misgivings and fond remembrance vie for position as the interviewees seem to confuse the nostalgia of youthful action with the excesses of historical fact.

Where to watch. Streaming options change often. See the full, country-by-country breakdown on our where to watch 1966, My Time in the Red Guards page.