The Chinese Botanist's Daughters

2006 French film

26 April 2006 (2006-04-26)

Running time

105 minutesCountriesFrance
CanadaLanguageMandarin

The Chinese Botanist's Daughters (French: Les filles du botaniste, Chinese: 植物园, lit. "Botanic Garden") is a French and Canadian film, with the background set as in China. It was released in 2006.

Plot

Set in China in the 1980s or 1990s, the film tells the story of Li Ming, a young orphan of the Tangshan earthquake, who leaves to study at the home of a renowned botanist. A secretive man and commanding father, he lives on an island that he has transformed into a luxurious garden. Anxious to share this solitary life, his daughter, An, welcomes with joy the arrival of the female student. Soon their friendship develops into a sensual, but forbidden attraction. Incapable of separating themselves, Ming and An create a dangerous arrangement to be able to continue spending their lives together: Ming marries An's brother, who is a People's Liberation Army (PLA) soldier and cannot bring his wife with him. However, An and Ming's relationship is discovered by the botanist who has a heart attack when he finds out. Before he dies, he tells police that it was his daughter and daughter-in-law's homosexuality "disease" that killed him. Thus, An and Ming are sentenced to death by a court and executed.

Casting

Mylène Jampanoï — Li Ming
Li Xiaoran — An
Dongfu Lin — Botanist

Controversies

Due to the sensitivity of the topic of homosexuality, this movie was not allowed to be shot in China. It was shot in northern Vietnam instead (mainly in Ba Vì and Hà Tây) to create a similar environment.