Review:
In the course of cinematic history, there have been many great quests: searches for the Holy Grail, the Ark of the Covenant, the true nature of Humankind, the essence of God, and, during this film from Chinese director Zhou Xiaowen, a 29-inch television. In Ermo, a somewhat better- constructed cousin to Zhang Yimou's The Story of Qui Ju, we follow the obsessive struggle of one woman (Alia) to earn the money to buy the biggest television in her village. There's no sacrifice she won't make, an attitude that her aging, impotent husband (Ge Zhijun) is incapable of understanding. In his view, money is for building houses, not buying gadgets.
The feisty heroine in the Chinese arthouse film Ermo is a peasant and a true 'primitive' of the 20th Century. Ermo is her name (an actress billed only as Alia plays her with an impressive ferocity and passion). She lives with her son and husband in a remote village and cooks and sells noodles for a living. The husband (Ge Zhijun) is sickly and sexually impotent. Ermo is a volcano unable to erupt. Her sexual frustration is transformed into consumerism.
Ermo, the title character in the funny and poignant film by China's Zhou Xiaowen, is the sort of woman whose radiance goes well beyond her beautiful, expressive face. She has pluck, resourcefulness, a determination that is winsome and awesome, too -- no wonder she's a heroine you can't quite get enough of.
ERMO is a cautionary tale of the pitfalls of the emerging middle-class in modern Chinese society. Ermo, the title character, is a product of Chinese economic free-market reforms. She's a self-employed noodle maker who also makes produce baskets on the side for extra income. She supports her lazy husband "Chief," a former village official, and her son Tiger through long hours of hard work. For her efforts, her family leads a modest but comfortable life.
"What Will Become of Us if We Don't Stop?" Ermo's China and the End of Globalization
by David Leiwei Li
Abstract: "Examines the issue of globalization in the Chinese film, 'Ermo,' directed by Zhou Xiaowen. Scene that foreshadows money's power to erode patriarchy; Reflection on abrupt intrusion of a global consumer economy into a fading socialist economy."
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