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 Li Shaohong

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

Scarface

Scarface · 1932

MovieCrimeAction

In 1920s Chicago, Italian immigrant and notorious thug, Antonio 'Tony' Camonte, aka Scarface, shoots his way to the top of the mobs while trying to protect his sister from the criminal life.

Antonia's Line

Antonia's Line · 1995

MovieDramaComedy

After World War II, Antonia and her daughter, Danielle, go back to their Dutch hometown, where Antonia's late mother has bestowed a small farm upon her. There, Antonia settles down and joins a tightly-knit but unusual community. Those around her include quirky friend Crooked Finger, would-be suitor Bas and, eventually for Antonia, a granddaughter and great-granddaughter who help create a strong family of empowered women.

Crash

MovieThrillerDrama

A car crash victim inexplicably finds himself aroused by car accidents and becomes involved with an underground subculture of like-minded souls.

All the President's Men

All the President's Men · 1976

All the President's Men

MovieDramaMystery

During the 1972 elections, two reporters' investigation sheds light on the controversial Watergate scandal that compels President Nixon to resign from his post.

Cool Hand Luke

Cool Hand Luke · 1967

MovieDramaCrime

When petty criminal Luke Jackson is sentenced to two years in a Florida prison farm, he doesn't play by the rules of either the sadistic warden or the yard's resident heavy, Dragline, who ends up admiring the new guy's unbreakable will. Luke's bravado, even in the face of repeated stints in the prison's dreaded solitary confinement cell, "the box," make him a rebel hero to his fellow convicts and a thorn in the side of the prison officers.

Doctor Zhivago

Doctor Zhivago · 1965

MovieDramaRomance

The life of a Russian physician and poet who, although married to another, falls in love with a political activist's wife and experiences hardship during World War I and then the October Revolution.

The Big Sleep

The Big Sleep · 1946

MovieMysteryCrime

Private Investigator Philip Marlowe is hired by wealthy General Sternwood regarding a matter involving his youngest daughter Carmen. Before the complex case is over, Marlowe sees murder, blackmail, deception, and what might be love.

The Maltese Falcon

The Maltese Falcon · 1941

The Maltese Falcon

MovieMysteryCrime

A private detective takes on a case that involves him with three eccentric criminals, a beautiful liar, and their quest for a priceless statuette.

Paths of Glory

Paths of Glory · 1957

A commanding officer defends three scapegoats on trial for a failed offensive that occurred within the French Army in 1916.

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.

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.

Contact

Contact · 1997

MovieDramaScience Fiction

A radio astronomer receives the first extraterrestrial radio signal ever picked up on Earth. As the world powers scramble to decipher the message and decide upon a course of action, she must make some difficult decisions between her beliefs, the truth, and reality.

The Bridges of Madison County

The Bridges of Madison County · 1995

The Bridges of Madison County

MovieDramaRomance

Photographer Robert Kincaid wanders into the life of housewife Francesca Johnson for four days in the 1960s.

Manhattan

Manhattan · 1979

MovieComedyDrama

Manhattan explores how the life of a middle-aged television writer dating a teenage girl is further complicated when he falls in love with his best friend's mistress.

The Bridge on the River Kwai

The Bridge on the River Kwai · 1957

The Bridge on the River Kwai

MovieDramaHistory

The classic story of English POWs in Burma forced to build a bridge to aid the war effort of their Japanese captors. British and American intelligence officers conspire to blow up the structure, but Col. Nicholson, the commander who supervised the bridge's construction, has acquired a sense of pride in his creation and tries to foil their plans.

2046

MovieDramaScience Fiction

Women enter and exit a science fiction author's life over the course of a few years after the author loses the woman he considers his one true love.

Rate this film

Your ratings make Midnight smarter