A Chinese mountain village in the 20’s. A young peasant girl is bought by the sadistic, elderly owner of a dye-factory and suffers under the expectation that she will give birth to his male heir.
Taunted and tortured, she finds comfort in a growing affection fo rthe old man’s nephew and their love is consummated in a stunningly realised moment of passion set amont the sensuously coloured cloths of the factory. She bears his child but their life is to be blighted by tragedy as the boy grows to maturity not knowing his true father and resenting the poisoned interplay between the uneasily cohatiting trio.
Reminiscent of Balzac or James M Cain, this mesmerising melodrama concentrates on the complicated emotional ties that bind people to each other an dthe unavoidable malevolence of fate. Faultlessly crafted and breathtakingly beautiful with a rich, human core.