Original subtitles

Adapted from "Goodbye Jiabiangou" by Yang Xianhui

and testimonies of survivors, including Ti Zhongzheng.

JIABIANGOU

October 1960, Gobi desert

Mingshui Camp, part of the Jiabiangou Labour Camp

Li Minhan, Wei Changhai,

you'll go to dorm number eight.

Come on.

Here are your beds.

Zhang Weiliang,

take a place in the back.

Zhao, the work is going too slowly.

We can't do better.

Director, shouldn't we receive 20,000 men?

Our superiors say they'll arrive in spring.

Chen Yuming!

Director...

Chen, what is the situation in your team?

A third is missing. They can't stand up.

They must all write to their families

to ask them to send food stamps.

Understood.

Director Liu,

if reinforcements arrive only next year,

we won't be able

to clear 4,000 hectares

with the men we have.

I can't help it. Orders from the Rehabilitation Bureau.

Stand up!

Are you playing dead dog?

Stand up!

Zhang Weiliang, let him go!

Put him on the slope.

You cannot scrape the bottom, and mix better?

- Chen... - You're back.

Lao Dong, what are you looking for?

Something to barter with for food.

I still have a pair of pants and a shirt.

If I swap them, I'll have nothing more for the summer.

Poor Dong...

you look forward too much.

Try to hold on until tomorrow first.

Fucking idiot! You still eat that?

You wanna die?

Throw it!

Come on!

I see that you live in luxury;

you still have a watch.

A watch here is useless.

I cannot even trade it.

What kind is it? Let me see.

What is the brand?

Longines.

What?

Longines.

"Long-gin"?

Funny name for a watch.

Stow it away carefully.

Wei Shanghai, wake up.

Here is your divorce decree.

Chen...

Chief...

It is the decree of the divorce court.

Do not eat these seeds!

You'll swell until you burst!

She filed for divorce

without asking my opinion!

This is disgusting!

Stand up! Soup time!

Listen to me carefully.

As you know,

the building of socialism encounters difficulties.

Temporary difficulties.

Given the lack of supplies,

it was decided that starting today,

you won't work anymore.

It doesn't mean that you will remain lying around doing nothing.

To feed yourself, you will make your own harvest

of wild plants and seeds.

The soup is very clear.

Not a speck of cereal inside.

With a ration of 200 grams per day, what do you expect to find?

Come here.

Xiao Li, what's wrong with you?

My dear brother...

I hope you're okay.

And that children are nice with you.

You must know

that I'm in a new camp.

And for several months,

I have not received any letters.

I know nothing

about what happens at home.

It...

worries me

terribly.

Above all,

I hope that after reading this letter,

you can quickly

answer me.

I must say that...

since my arrival here,

I'm sick.

Now,

I'm past

my dysentery crisis.

But my body is

still very swollen.

The last time I wrote,

it was on October 29;

it was

to my children.

I asked them to discuss with you

how

you could send me

more rations.

On my arrival

at Jiabiangou Camp,

I had already

received from you

a tobacco pouch and some tobacco.

I am very grateful to you.

Now...

I find myself

in a desperate situation,

and I hope...

that you will remember

our brotherly ties,

to help me again.

Furthermore,

I beg you to inform our brother

of my situation,

so that he can help me.

Finally,

I hope he can

write me too.

I cannot say all

I have in my heart.

Forgive me.

Your brother, Weixuan.

November 15

1960...

Director...

- You wanted to see me? - Sit down.

Here, this is for you.

Inmates who die, it can't be helped.

But there are also sick men.

It was decided to open infirmaries.

You'll take care of infirmary number one.

Chen...

You're an old friend from the Party.

With you, I'll be quieter.

And the infirmary is heated.

Go settle yourself, you will be warm there.

Chen...

You are awake?

Professor Luo...

you want to urinate?

I just did.

Chen...

you work all day long,

and at night,

you cannot sleep.

You'll make yourself sick.

Come lie here.

I can stay seated.

Professor Luo,

drink a little.

No.

If I drink, I'll have to pee.

If you need to pee, I will help you.

When we were at the main camp,

everyone admired you.

The cart that you built,

it was beautiful and practical.

It spared the horse.

When we went to town for provisions,

the men formed a circle to admire it.

I was engineer in civil engineering.

But here, I became a "right-wing deviant".

What have you done?

During the "Hundred Flowers", at the Party Committee,

I issued an opinion.

I said

that "dictatorship of the proletariat" was not a good phrase.

That it was too limited.

And that "dictatorship of the people" would be more appropriate.

Because the country belongs to the people.

Zhao Tingji died. The crying man is from his village.

I told him to leave, but in vain.

Stop crying, go to bed.

Gathering at the dormitory!

Hurry up!

Meeting at the dorm!

Faster than that!

Zhang Weiliang!

Where is he?

It's him, there.

There you are, chicken! Tie him up!

I will teach you to eat human flesh!

It was a rat!

Bastard, criminal!

You dug up a corpse and you ate his bowels!

And not once! Several times!

You're a scumbag!

Hu Yongshun, come here!

Who accuses me of cannibalism?

Chief, you cannot slander me!

You need evidence!

Evidence? There is evidence. You have been seen!

You dug up the body of Wang Yiwu.

He's missing a leg!

And we would have eaten it?

You argue, you bastard ? I'll tell you:

I've been watching you for 10 days.

You go to the cemetery, supposedly for rats,

but look at you, all very fat!

Tie him up!

Tie him up! Come on!

Bastards!

I am a Party member since 1938!

Fucking right-winger!

He plays the old revolutionary!

Just shut up!

Go ahead, you bastard!

Wei Changhai!

Come here!

Take them out and put them in the hole!

Hold on.

Your arms, they're okay?

Xiao Li...

Lao Dong...

You cannot sleep? What's wrong?

I have a favor to ask you.

What?

This morning, when I woke up,

I still felt dizzy.

I cannot wait anymore,

I must tell you everything.

You worry too much about your wife.

You know,

what I have to ask you is not difficult.

If I should die

in the coming days,

I beg you,

wrap my body in my blanket

and hide it in the back of the dormitory...

there.

Leave it there a few days,

time for my wife to come,

and tell her

to find a way to bring my body

back in Shangai.

My wife and I,

we were working together at the Shanghai hospital.

I decided

to follow the watchword, "All for the Northwest",

and I came to Lanzhou.

At the time, my wife, my parents,

and my in-laws tried to dissuade me.

I really regret

not having listened to them.

I beg you...

I beg you to do this for me.

I don't want to be buried here.

Lao Dong,

say no more.

If it goes like this, I'll do it.

Go back to bed.

Don't think about it.

Keep my body in the dormitory for 3 or 4 days.

If my wife is still not coming,

carry my body

and bury it.

Otherwise,

the smell will be too strong.

It would be unhealthy.

Lao Dong...

Professor Zhang...

Lao Dong is dead.

- There are others? - No.

You're blind or what? There is a dead man there!

Bastards! You say nothing and you hide them?

At night, you should wake up the sick men and make them talk.

Don't let them sleep, wait for the day.

But is it better, to forbid them to sleep?

In the camp, people die at night, in their sleep.

If there is anything, call me.

Go, go...

Everyone sit down.

Everyone who can.

Zhang Yongwei, go ahead.

Well, I start.

In the camp, there's a guy

who has stolen a sheep skin.

He burned the hair from the skin

and he grilled it piece by piece.

It was crisp and very good.

Not as much

as the peking duck at "Lanzhou's Delight".

Crisp and tender.

With a slight odor of pear wood.

Peking duck, come on...

For me,

nothing beats braised pork.

It's true.

At home,

we kill the pig every year.

We always cook it

in stew with cabbage.

I never ate braised pork.

You are ranked in the class of the "well-off"

and you never ate braised pork?

Why are you in the "well-off" class?

The Agrarian Reform Brigade had a confused reasoning.

You should

watch your language.

Some of those who criticize the Agrarian Reform

merely spread discontent.

Forget it.

Change the subject.

Don't forget:

you're not a district official anymore.

You're in rehabilitation just like us.

To say that some "spread discontent"...

that phrase is a little excessive, don't you think?

Lao Lin,

if you were so "revolutionary",

why did they send you in a labor camp?

Why did they rank you

"ultra-right-wing reactionary"?

Wrongly, wrongly.

I have been wrongly accused.

I was the victim of a set-up.

My superiors...

my superiors didn't understand it.

I've always been loyal to the hierarchy.

You have been accused wrongly?

And them, they have not been wrongly accused?

Did they deserve the camp and the hard labour?

You complain about a guy, you criticize another...

It's only to be well regarded by the hierarchy.

You think you can get out of here by trampling on the others.

I'll tell you:

You too,

you won't get out.

Nobody here

will get out.

Stop talking.

Lao Duan,

about the bodies in south infirmary, Zhang Jixin is the tall one.

The little one is Zou Yongquan.

The one with the middle parting is Jinchao.

Don't make a mistake when tagging them.

Understood.

Dong Jianyi!

Dong Jianyi

lives here?

Yes, he lives here.

He's not here?

Sit down.

You'd better sit down.

Your name is Gu?

I am Dong Jianyi's wife.

Your name is Li Minhan?

Yes.

You are Xiao Li.

Lao Dong wrote me recently

to ask after you

if he was not in the Mingshui Camp at my arrival.

He said in his letter

that he would be transferred and he wanted me to come.

I already came to see him at the Jiabiangou Camp,

but never at Mingshui.

Xiao Li...

My husband

has been transferred?

He's outside.

Lao Dong is outside.

Sit down.

You should sit down.

Lao Dong told me

that every 2 or 3 months,

you came from Shanghai to see him.

Shanghai is far from here.

It's at least a 5 or 6 days travel.

Where is Lao Dong?

When does he come back?

Gu...

I'm going to explain what happened to Lao Dong.

What I'll tell you will make you grieve.

Lao Dong is gone.

He died eight days ago.

He died in his sleep,

without suffering.

We dressed him

with the new uniform we found in his suitcase.

We wrapped him in his blanket,

and we buried him in the cemetery.

His personal effects

were deposited at the Camp Office.

If you want to recover them,

you'll have to deal with them.

Share between yourselves

the cakes I brought.

Since you propose...

Xiao Li...

lead me to Lao Dong's grave.

There are graves

all around the desert.

Scattered.

I'm afraid that his grave

is undiscoverable.

What do you mean by "undiscoverable"?

Go to the Camp Office, ask the manager.

It's him who organizes the gravediggers teams.

He necessarily knows where Dong is buried.

Xiao Li...

you're a real bastard.

Wei Shanghai, why do you insult me?

What have I done to you?

You behaved like a lousy swine.

This poor woman begs you the lead her to the grave,

and you, you just lie to her.

You were not there

when Dong was buried?

Shut your mouth.

I was afraid that you might speak

while she was there.

You're talking rubbish!

A few days ago,

across the cemetery,

I saw Dong's corpse.

He was naked, thrown on the bare ground.

His clothes had been stolen.

His blanket was gone.

It's scary...

Someone has stolen his belongings to swap them

for food.

But the worst...

is that they had cut some flesh from his lower back.

He also had his calves cut.

Who are you looking for?

I am Dong Jianyi's wife.

I want to know

exactly when he died.

I'll check.

Dong Jianyi died eight days ago.

You know where he was buried?

That, I don't know.

I record only names and dates.

The graves have stones?

What for?

They are attached a plate

with their name and date of death.

This is how you do it?

This is despicable and unworthy!

Stop crying!

Take your stuff and return to Shanghai!

As long as you do not take me to my husband,

I won't go!

You want to stay? Stay!

We sure don't lack dormitory beds!

Where do you work, in Shanghai?

Why are you asking me that?

To write to your higher-ups

to send their security guards to bring you back!

You, the city ladies,

with your reactionary husbands in rehabilitation...

Instead of disowning him, you come here to make a fuss!

You're not politically transparent! You defy the government;

you defy the dictatorship of the proletariat!

For this night, you'd better stay here.

Tomorrow morning, you'll get back to Shanghai.

Take my place.

I'll take another bed.

Sorry for the dirt.

Get up. We'll take beds in the back.

Come here, Professor Zhang is dead.

Leave him alone.

Let's finish eating first.

Where are you going?

You won't find him!

Don't go!

There are hundreds of graves

across the desert!

They're not even numbered!

You won't find him!

Why are you not listening to me?

Don't go over there!

Not there!

Most of the graves of this camp

are over there.

Walk along the dry stream towards south...

Once at the end,

go southeast

and take the path between the sandbanks.

There are graves on both sides.

Let her go!

Sooner or later, she will give up!

You, over there!

You know where is buried Dong Jianyi?

No!

Go back fast!

You won't find him! There are wolves over here!

Eat a little and go to sleep.

Go back home tomorrow morning.

Stop tormenting us.

Xiao Li...

give me a shovel.

Yesterday, I saw everything.

Don't worry...

I will reseal the graves

that I open.

But what are you gonna do?

Eat a little.

Eat something.

After that, I'll go with you to find Lao Dong's grave.

She's choking?

She gasps for breath. Let's take her away!

Dong Jianyi!

Nobody saw you when you went out?

Nobody.

I said to Chen

that I went to see Shi Siliang

because I felt myself dying,

and I wanted to dictate

my last will.

Professor...

get some sleep. We'll leave when it gets dark.

Xiao Li...

you have an itinerary?

We'll go to the Mingshui station.

At nine PM, there is a train to Lanzhou.

To take the train in Mingshui

is too risky.

There are patrols everywhere.

It is better to flee westward,

to the Yuanshanzi station.

It's safer.

Yuanshanzi is too far away. You won't make it there.

I'll get there alright.

You always regard me as your Master?

If I'm still your Master...

obey me.

Run away.

Run away fast.

Take my coat to cover you.

Master, lie down.

The coat will protect you.

I am young, I'll stand firm.

I don't want you to die of cold!

Master...

obey your disciple.

Otherwise, I'm not going.

Chen Yuming,

in which direction did Luo flee?

Chief,

I don't know.

Are you kidding me!

It often happens, here...

When people feel death coming,

they have a last burst.

In my opinion,

he couldn't walk more than 200 meters.

Listen to me!

Luo will not escape us.

We have warned the Baiying police,

and the police from his native village in North East,

that the criminal Luo escaped.

We will soon get hold of him.

The next who chooses not to denounce a fugitive,

can count on me to put him in the hole!

End of the meeting!

You took my flour

to give to this bastard?

Stop it!

The bastard...

One day, I felt sorry for him and I gave him some meat.

He asked me: "Where does this meat come from?"

I said: "I stole it."

He replied: "I do not eat stolen meat."

"And I will denounce you!"

They put me through a session of collective censuring

and they tied me up very tightly.

I almost died.

Today, we killed a sheep

to improve your rations.

The Rehabilitation Bureau

has met to review your cases.

I hope that you'll keep good and that you'll recover.

We prepare a train,

you'll return to your homes in two days.

Chen...

get up.

What is it?

I have to talk to you.

Meet me outside.

The Camp organization has planned

that valid comrades will return home by train.

But you, you don't leave. You stay here.

Does that mean

that I stay in rehabilitation?

You don't understand.

It means that you stay here to work.

I need you.

I'm forced to?

It's only a proposal.

For now, some patients can't be transported.

They must recover before leaving.

If they died in the train, it would be embarrassing.

Furthermore, when these men have left,

others will arrive.

Spring is coming.

If there is a lack of arms, we can't clear the land.

Don't worry.

If you stay here, I will watch over you.

You'll come through better than those who leave.

Having them leave

is a temporary measure decided by the organization.

There have been too many deaths.

We free them to save their lives.

When starvation ends, they will still be "right-wing".

What will happen then?

The future is difficult to predict, we'll see along the way.

Chief, look...

Wei Shanghai's blanket and clothes

have been stolen.

What do we do?

Forget it.

They can swap them in the village for food.

The living

counts more than the dead.

This movie is dedicated to those who suffered,

to those who fell, and to those who survived.