Tanghulu

This film (drama)Also known as冰糖葫芦，is aMainland ChinaProducerbeauty live，At2002Released in year 。The dialogue language is，Current Douban rating0.0(For reference only)。

The 203rd Courtyard is an ordinary residential courtyard in Beijing, retaining some traces of the old Wang family mansion, with several new buildings as well. Building 8 is a tower-style high-rise in the center of the courtyard, where busy young and middle-aged people live, and the entrance often gathers some leisurely elderly people. These elders discuss the past and present, talk about current events and social issues, being relentless in their opinions. In a series of incidental yet ordinary events, the people here are unconsciously drawn into a vortex of embarrassment that dramatically changes their fates while impacting others' lives. The nearly seventy-year-old Ban'er Ye, Old Wang, suddenly wants to recognize a mother. Having won a huge prize and fulfilled a lifelong wish, this should be something good. Yet, facing the live television cameras and expressing heartfelt words moves people but also brings them sorrow. In the eyes of the secular world, the elderly man feels a sense of nobility, while the illiterate tricycle driver in pursuit of practicality and profit experiences a moment of romance akin to that found in classical novels. Old Wang, a retired locksmith from a lock factory, finds himself unintentionally pushed to the position of legal representative of a cultural company, a complex lock he cannot quite grasp. Amid feelings of helplessness, self-comfort, excitement, worry, or even fear, and a sense of relief, Old Wang truly indulges in the thrill of being a boss. Marriage is a beautiful thing; however, Old Bachelor Teacher Mo, whose marriage timeline was dictated by others, feels little joy in a situation that ostensibly holds so much delight. Yet how can one understand the beauty of life without going through certain hardships? Seeking medical treatment and taking medicine is inevitable for the common folk who eat grains. Gao Gong can never understand his daughter, who sits on the bench as a substitute in the women's football club. When he himself develops prostatitis and becomes a "substitute" in the hospital, the rift between father and daughter amusingly yet bitterly closes, echoing the lyrics of "Tanghulu," which sing of "sour wrapped in sweet, with sweetness revealing the sour..." Who can truly articulate that the essence of life is not exactly so? American girl Sarah becomes a Chinese daughter-in-law, thus reenacting a blend of East and West in the same tower with a mother-in-law story. As they age, forgetfulness is inevitable; Old Ma and Old Li are a pair of dual in-laws in the building, and their in-law relationship turns to hostility over a not too significant amount of money, which is quite perplexing. For every muddled individual, there are always clever ones; yet too many clever people complicate matters, as the saying goes, "Too many carpenters cannot build a good house." A bizarre incident of suing over a penny happens in this high-rise, with Director Er insisting he is not after money, but rather an ordinary person’s dignity. How much is dignity worth today? Money, of course, is a topic, but what life stories and reflections on life does General Dai have before his dying wife, Zhang Guanglu, after having earned plenty of money? The market economy has shaken our lives, with traditional culture and the ideals we have adhered to over the years facing significant impact. Residents in the high-rise, the flat family, the old director father, and his associate professor son cannot avoid confronting this challenge directly. In the process of mutual confrontation and understanding, this father and son experience a heartfelt transition that is both soul-stirring and warmly nostalgic. This summer, a nine-year-old girl named Xiaobailing unexpectedly arrives in this building, just like the century-old elder Wen Qi Laoge. Like everyone from adults to children in the tower, this child experiences a summer filled with the tanghulu, which is fresh for the old Beijingers, finding herself truly sour this time, truly sweet another time, crying once, and laughing as well. In the laughter and recollection, she savors the rich flavors. A tower, an unremarkable tower, performing scenes of humorous yet intriguing secular stories.