Sons is a 1996 Chinese film directed by Zhang Yuan. Detailing the collapse of a family due to alcoholism, Sons straddles the line between fiction and documentary, as the film's "actors" all play themselves in reenactments of their own lives.
Zhang came upon the idea of making a film about a family's collapse into alcoholism after hearing about the story of his downstairs neighbors, former professional dancers, and their two grown sons.
The film was privately financed and was made outside of the traditional studio system. As a result, Sons was never screened in China.
The idea of Sons came directly from the two sons of the Li family, Li Ji and Li Wei. According to Zhang, the two sons literally knocked on his door and immediately claimed that they were both the "baddest family on the block" and that their father, who had been committed to a mental institute, was also "awesome." Fascinated by this seemingly contradictory account of the Li family, Zhang agreed to make a film based on their story. In contrast to the sons, the parents of Li Ji and Li Wei were not in favor of making a film, and never fully accepted the idea of their lives being put down on film.
Shooting Sons required
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