In the Heat of the Sun

“A Revolutionary Childhood.”

Most of the adults have been sent to the provinces, and in 1970s Beijing that leaves fourteen-year-old Ma Xiaojun (Xia Yu), called Monkey, and his friends with the whole city to themselves. They pick locks and puzzle over girls, until Monkey sees Mi Lan (Ning Jing) in a photograph and can't stop thinking about her. Jiang Wen, in his first film as director, follows Monkey as the summer carries him toward a longing he can't yet name.