You are here:

The Summer Is Gone

Name: The Summer Is Gone
Director: Zhang Dalei
Released: 2016
Duration: 105 min

Representation Score

5.7/10

Fair

2016

Director

Zhang Dalei

Runtime

105 minutes

Average Rating

No ratings yet

New Showbiz Analysis

The Summer Is Gone is a character-driven period drama set in a rural Chinese village during the early 1990s. It provides a necessary counter-narrative to urban-centric storytelling. While the film does not engage in overt identity politics or radical social deconstruction, it effectively captures the psychological impact of shifting familial structures. The narrative uses the loss of a paternal figure to explore the destabilization of the domestic unit. Ultimately, the film contributes to global cinematic diversity through its commitment to localized realism and its focus on a underrepresented geographic demographic.

Watch this, not that →

Category Breakdown

Does The Summer Is Gone have LGBTQ+ representation?

Fair

The film does not explicitly include queer narratives or non-straight identities. It focuses on traditional social structures in a rural setting.

How does The Summer Is Gone portray gender?

Fair

The departure of the father hints at a possible exploration of changing gender roles. However, the specific roles and actions of female characters remain undefined.

How racially and ethnically diverse is The Summer Is Gone?

Good

The film offers significant representation of rural Western China, providing a localized perspective that challenges more common, Western-centric views.

How does The Summer Is Gone represent religion and culture?

Good

The narrative avoids idealized depictions of village life. Instead, it presents a nuanced, melancholic view of the systemic changes occurring in 1990s China.

Does The Summer Is Gone include disability representation?

Minimal

There is no mention of characters with visible or invisible disabilities within the narrative.

Present on Screen

Authentic representation of rural Western Chinese life and regional contexts.
Nuanced, non-idealized portrayal of social and systemic shifts in 1990s China.
Exploration of universal themes of growth and loss through a specific, localized lens.

Limited or Absent

Lacks explicit representation of LGBTQ+ identities or queer narratives.
Limited detail regarding the roles and actions of female characters.
No characters with visible or invisible disabilities.

Official Synopsis

In the early 1990s, Xiaolei, who lives in a small village in western China, longs for a summer holiday without homework after he graduated from primary school. However, it is filled with boring routine, and Xiaolei feels the anxiety around him. When his father has left, Xiaolei realises that his life is completely changed.

How are these scores produced? →