Two old friends collide after decades apart, and the entire film is just them talking in a room. No plot armor, no soundtrack swells, no manufactured conflict to cut the tension. The comedy lands because it's built on real recognition, the kind that only happens when people who shaped each other's lives realize how far they've drifted. You're not watching a story unfold; you're eavesdropping on two people remembering who they used to be and discovering who they became, and that gap between those two versions is everything. It's a conversation that earns every laugh and every silence.
Adapted from Gao Yubao's novel of the same name, this puppet film is set in the old society, where the landlord class uses all kinds of tricks to exploit the peasants. One of those tricks is imitating a rooster's crow in the middle of the night. With the Lunar New Year coming, landlord Zhou Paopi wants to get rid of the farmhands who have labored for him all year and avoid paying their wages. His plan is sly. As soon as the worn-out farmhands lie down after a day of work, he creeps into the chicken coop and crows a few times himself, setting off the real roosters. Then he pushes the farmhands to drag themselves out of bed and go work in the fields. Zhou Paopi expects the torment to wear their bodies down soon, handing him the excuse he is after. Blending comedy and drama, the film suits viewers interested in stories about landlords and the peasants they exploit.
