Sun and Man (1980): cast, story & where to watch

Released in 1980, Sun and Man is a drama film directed by Peng Ning, running about 110 minutes.

What it’s about. With the birth of New China, a husband-and-wife pair of Overseas Chinese painters resolve to return to the embrace of their motherland, and their child is born under the five-starred red flag. But these Overseas Chinese patriots are persecuted in various political campaigns and their daughter subject to discrimination from childhood. The male lead freezes to death as a fugitive and draws a giant question mark in the snow before dying. The daughter emigrates following the Cultural Revolution; when her relatives try to stop her, she says: "You love the motherland, but does the motherland love you?" Based on a script by Bai Hua, SUN AND MAN was completed in 1981 but permanently shelved following high-level criticism and a public campaign against its "anti-Party" character. The film is said to survive in the studio archive but has never been publicly screened. A Taiwanese adaptation of the script (with some modifications) was released in 1982 under the English title PORTRAIT OF A FANATIC.

Who’s in it. Sun and Man stars Liu Wenzhi, Huang Meiying and Leng Mei.

Where to watch. Streaming options change often. See the full, country-by-country breakdown on our where to watch Sun and Man page.

If you liked it. Fans of Sun and Man tend to enjoy The Shawshank Redemption, The Godfather, Schindler's List and The Godfather Part II.