Cherries

Set in the village of Aicun, Yunnan province, pic begins in the early '80s, with poor, lame farmer Ge Wang pressured by his family to marry the mentally and emotionally stunted Cherry. Ge weds the unkempt but harmless woman, who spends most of her time chasing children and offering them the fruit that is her namesake. Once married, the shamelessly sexual and embarrassingly naive Cherry shows an insatiable desire to have her own child. Fate intervenes in the second act when Cherry finds an abandoned baby girl in the woods. Though the sprig, named Scarlet, comes complete with a handful of banknotes, Ge panics, thinking he can't afford to raise a child and reacts in callous fashion. The final section puts a pre-pubescent Scarlet centerstage as she deals with the stigma of having a mentally handicapped mother whose affection is both infinite and frequently inappropriate.