Bloody Morning

Bloody Morning

1992 · 103 min · ★ 8.2 · Drama, Crime

Freely adapted from Gabriel García Márquez's Chronicle of a Death Foretold, the film follows the investigation of a local teacher's murder in a small and desperately poor rural village, the story of the crime gradually pieced together from the fragmented memories of witnesses forced to testify at an inquest. Sharing with her Fifth Generation colleagues Chen Kaige and Tian Zhuangzhuang a remarkable eye for the barren landscapes of northern China and a fascination with small-town life — especially those enduring superstitions that Communism failed to erase — director Li Shaohong also introduces several formal innovations, particularly in storytelling structure, that remain unprecedented in Chinese cinema.

Directed by Li Shaohong · Written by Gabriel García Márquez

Your Rating

Cast

Zhaohui Gong 张强国
Hu Yajie 李明光
Lu Hui 林长
Wong Kwong-Kuen 调查员
Yan Xie 李狗娃
Zhao Jun 李平娃
Kong Lin 李红杏
Ju Xingmao 满意
Miao Miao 崔永芳
Linlang Ye 盆嫂

Make it a double feature

3h 12m together

Bloody Morning

Family Portrait

Both from Li Shaohong.

More from Li ShaohongSee all →

The Red Suit

The Red Suit · 1998

Modern-day urban problems like unemployment and teenage depression come under the microscope. Husband and wife lose their jobs, and their daughter is under considerable stress studying for her college exams. Meanwhile, grandmother is having an unexpected romantic liaison. Will the family be able to pull together to solve their problems?

Voice

Palace of Desire

Palace of Desire · 2000

Palace of Desire

SeriesDramaWar & Politics

Palace of Desire, also known as Da Ming Gong Ci, is a Chinese television series based on the life story of Princess Taiping, a daughter of China's only female emperor Wu Zetian. Directed by Li Shaohong and Zeng Nianping, the series starred Chen Hong, Zhou Xun, Gui Yalei and Winston Chao in the leading roles. It was first broadcast on CCTV-8 in mainland China on March 30, 2000.

Hunting

Hunting · 2025

SeriesDramaCrime

After a large-scale police crackdown, narcotics officer Yang Yipeng seizes a critical lead with captured but defiant ringleader Mou Haidong. Alongside rookie officer Zhi An and informant Duo Zai, Yang follows a trail back to Mou Sen’s new synthetic drug operation, uncovering a complex web of drug networks. But as they delve deeper, the true mastermind remains elusive, hidden behind layers of secrecy

Comedy of Divorce

Comedy of Divorce · 1992

Comedy of Divorce

MovieDramaFamily

The Orange is Red

The Orange is Red · 2001

The Orange is Red

SeriesDramaFamily

Bao shi fu zi

Bao shi fu zi · 1983

MovieDramaFamily

The Dream of Red Mansions

The Dream of Red Mansions · 2010

The Dream of Red Mansions

Jai Baoyu is a male heir who grew up in a wealthy feudal clan dominated by women. His love affairs with his cousins Lin Daiyu and Xue Baochai happened in the midst of his family's struggle to remain influential.

Stolen Life

Stolen Life · 2005

When Yan'ni starts college she believes she is embarking on a new life away from her family, and she is, but not the new beginning she anticipates. Once at school, she immediately meets Muyu and falls in love with him. What she does not know is that from the moment he met her Muyu began an intricate deception that will lead to the loss of her child and the future she believes in.

Springtime in a Small Town

Springtime in a Small Town · 2002

Springtime in a Small Town

MovieDramaRomance

In a mansion decimated during World War II, a frustrated, bored housewife, Yuwen, is torn between caring for her ailing husband and her longing for a former sweetheart, a doctor who has come to treat her husband.

Blush

The film charts the fortunes of two women who loved each other as sisters, but whose paths diverge when the Revolution brings an end to their old way of life in the brothel.

Hear Her

Hear Her · 2020

SeriesDramaFamily

Consists of 8 different stories that talk about the problems and pain women face in the modern-day. Topics include leftover women, objectification of women, the role of a housewife, domestic violence, social appearance anxiety, women’s career choices, midlife crises, and family of origin issues.

绝对隐私

绝对隐私 · 2005

The Door

The Door · 2007

The horror story set in the contemporary China centers on a young intellectual’s ominous journey to find his lost girlfriend and the truth behind the breakup.

Family Portrait

Family Portrait · 1992

Family Portrait

After laying bare backward village mentalities in Bloody Morning, Li Shaohong turns her attention to China’s urban middle class. Cao is a photographer, married to an opera singer and with an infant son, caught in the usual professional morass of political compromise. His life starts to fall apart when he learns that his ex-wife also bore him a son some months after their divorce – and when the boy turns up looking for his father. Nothing wildly dramatic, just believable people in believable situations. If the ending seems a touch forced, this is nevertheless a sign that ‘Fifth Generation’ cinema is changing and coming to terms with up-to-date realities.

Under Cover

Under Cover · 2017

SeriesCrimeAction & Adventure

Police officer Bao Yu is working undercover as drug dealer Jin Fei's subordinate and is eventually able to work directly under powerful drug lord Tian Jing after befriending his daughter, Tang Guo. However, Bao Yu is not fighting the drug cartel alone - he also has a support network including fellow undercover colleague and romantic interest Guan Xiao Zhi, police chief Fang Qing Long and anti-narcotics team leader Lian Zhong.

More Like This

Lucky

The story of a young mother with a failed marriage behind her, who fights daily for her dream to open a hair salon, challenging her fate in an effort to free herself and gain independence and right to happiness.

Contempt

Contempt · 1963

MovieDramaRomance

Art film producer Jeremy Prokosch, unhappy with the work of his director, hires Fritz Lang (as himself) to direct an adaptation of The Odyssey, but when it seems that the legendary filmmaker is making a picture destined to bomb, he brings in a screenwriter to energise the script. The professional intersects with the personal when a rift develops between the writer and his wife.

Ronia: The Robber's Daughter

Ronia: The Robber's Daughter · 1984

Ronia: The Robber's Daughter

MovieAdventureDrama

Ronia lives happily in her father's castle until she comes across a new playmate, Birk, in the nearby dark forest. The two explore the wilderness, braving dangerous Witchbirds and Rump-Gnomes. But when their families find out Birk and Ronia have been playing together, they forbid them to see each other again. Indeed, their fathers are competing robber chieftains and bitter enemies. Now the two spunky children must try to tear down the barriers that have kept their families apart for so long.

The Silence of the Lambs

The Silence of the Lambs · 1991

The Silence of the Lambs

MovieCrimeThriller

Clarice Starling is a top student at the FBI's training academy. Jack Crawford wants Clarice to interview Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a brilliant psychiatrist who is also a violent psychopath, serving life behind bars for various acts of murder and cannibalism. Crawford believes that Lecter may have insight into a case and that Starling, as an attractive young woman, may be just the bait to draw him out.

The Shawshank Redemption

The Shawshank Redemption · 1994

The Shawshank Redemption

MovieDramaCrime

Imprisoned in the 1940s for the double murder of his wife and her lover, upstanding banker Andy Dufresne begins a new life at the Shawshank prison, where he puts his accounting skills to work for an amoral warden. During his long stretch in prison, Dufresne comes to be admired by the other inmates -- including an older prisoner named Red -- for his integrity and unquenchable sense of hope.

Strange Days

Strange Days · 1995

MovieCrimeScience Fiction

In the last days of 1999, ex-cop turned street hustler Lenny Nero receives a disc which contains the memories of the murder of a prostitute. With the help of bodyguard Mace, he starts to investigate and is pulled deeper and deeper in a whirl of murder, blackmail and intrigue.

The Devil Wears Prada

The Devil Wears Prada · 2006

The Devil Wears Prada

MovieDramaComedy

A young woman from the Midwest gets more than she bargained for when she moves to New York to become a writer and ends up as the assistant to the tyrannical, larger-than-life editor-in-chief of a major fashion magazine.

Das Boot

Das Boot · 1981

MovieDramaHistory

A German submarine hunts allied ships during the Second World War, but it soon becomes the hunted. The crew tries to survive below the surface, while stretching both the boat and themselves to their limits.

Something Is About to Happen

Something Is About to Happen · 2023

Something Is About to Happen

MovieDramaThriller

After losing her job as a computer programmer, Lucía decides to become a cab driver.

M*A*S*H

M*A*S*H · 1970

MovieComedyDrama

One of the world's most acclaimed comedies, M*A*S*H focuses on three Korean War Army surgeons brilliantly brought to life by Donald Sutherland, Tom Skerritt and Elliott Gould. Though highly skilled and deeply dedicated, they adopt a hilarious, lunatic lifestyle as an antidote to the tragedies of their Mobile Army Surgical Hospital, and in the process infuriate Army bureaucrats. Robert Duvall, Gary Burghoff and Sally Kellerman co-star as a sanctimonious Major, an other-worldly Corporal, and a self-righteous yet lusty nurse.

The Tin Drum

The Tin Drum · 1979

MovieDramaHistory

In 1924, Oskar Matzerath is born in the Free City of Danzig. At age three, he falls down a flight of stairs and stops growing. In 1939, World War II breaks out.

Ben-Hur

Ben-Hur · 1959

MovieHistoryDrama

In ancient Judea, a Jewish aristocrat opposing Roman occupation of his homeland reunites with his childhood friend, now a Roman commander — setting in motion a saga of betrayal, adventure, tragedy, revenge, and faith.

Finding Forrester

Finding Forrester · 2000

Finding Forrester

MovieDramaHistory

Gus Van Sant tells the story of a young African American man named Jamal who confronts his talents while living on the streets of the Bronx. He accidentally runs into an old writer named Forrester who discovers his passion for writing. With help from his new mentor Jamal receives a scholarship to a private school.

Rate this film

Your ratings make Midnight smarter