THE OLDER BROTHER

The Qius are your typical old Beijing family. Two brothers and their single father live in a hutong courtyard crammed in with several other families, eating zhajiang noodles for dinner while listening to crosstalk on the radio. Old Qiu (Zhao Yanguozhang) is a taxi driver estranged from his troubled younger son, a high school senior who often skips classes to play video games. When Old Qiu suddenly fell ill, his older son, Qiu Lei (Gao Wei) has to step up and take care of the family, but his younger brother just keeps stirring up trouble. Though the plot doesn’t offer much in terms of surprises, the vivid depiction of characters in the hutong and the warm bonds of kinship will certainly move the audience.