An Old Man and His Dog

1993 Chinese film

Zhun Li
Zhang Xianliang

Based on邢老汉和狗的故事 (trans. The Story of Old Man Xing and the Dog)
by Zhang XianliangProduced byZhigu ChengStarring

Siqin Gaowa
Xie Tian

Edited byChunbao WeiMusic byYongji Wang

Release date

1993 (1993)

Running time

90 minutesCountryChinaLanguageMandarin

An Old Man and His Dog (Chinese: 老人与狗; pinyin: lǎorényǔgǒu) is a 1993 Chinese drama film directed by Xie Jin which stars Xie Tian, Baocheng Gao, Jin Meng, Siqin Gaowa, and Feng Enhe. It is based on the novel of the same name by Zhang Xianliang.^[1]

Plot

Cast

Xie Tian as Old Xing
Siqin Gaowa as Kuang Yuqing
Baocheng Gao as Old Wei
Feng Enhe as Wei Tiangui
Jin Meng as Ma Sanpo

Controversy

In March 1993, during filming, Xie Jin struggled with finding a dog suitable for An Old Man And His Dog so he unknowingly approved Cheng Peng, a serial killer, and one of his dogs.^[2] He allowed Cheng to stay on set and help his dog perform in some of the scenes, with the payoff that he was cast as the body double for the main actor, Xie Tian, being filmed in some of the scenes in which the protagonist rides on horseback.^[3]^[4]

Later when it was discovered that Cheng Peng was a serial killer, the film was banned for two decades after its release, but the ban was rescinded sometime during the 2010s.^[3]

References

^ "老人与狗的背后：主人动手，恶狗吃肉，拍完谢晋电影后人狗皆枪毙" [Behind the Old Man and the Dog: The owner took action and the evil dog ate the meat. After filming Xie Jin's movie, both the man and the dog were shot.]. Sina Corporation (in Chinese). 4 June 2022. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
^ "宁夏"狗食人"案：主人杀人恶犬吃肉，被处决前还参演过电影" [Ningxia "dog cannibalism" case: the owner murdered and fed his victims to his vicious dog, and also participated in a movie before being executed]. Sohu. 13 April 2020. Archived from the original on 12 April 2022.
^ ^a ^b "《老人与狗》为何被禁27年？恶狗吃过人肉，凶手拍完电影后 ..." [Why was "The Old Man and the Dog" banned for 27 years? The evil dog ate human flesh, and after the murderer finished filming the movie...]. Sohu (in Chinese). 22 July 2020. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
^ "1993年,他带狗参演电影《老人与狗》,拍完后人狗都被判处了死刑" [In 1993, he took his dog to participate in the movie "The Old Man and the Dog". After the filming, both humans and dogs were sentenced to death.]. Sina Corporation (in Chinese). 20 March 2022. Retrieved 21 February 2024.