“Heaven’s Lunch” Chinese Short Film About Filial Piety

The following video first appeared on Youku over a month ago. At the time, it did not immediately become very popular, unlike the Tencent QQ Chinese New Year television commercial, so we did not report it.

Yesterday, China’s major news agency Xinhua reported about it (republished from a Henan news outlet), saying it has received over 4 million views (over multiple copies on different video sharing websites) in less than 40 days. Actually, these numbers are not that good for an online video in China, but with Xinhua’s report this video has now received new attention. The original video included below has now accumulated over 1.6m views, 2200 comments, and 16k upvotes.

A copy on YouTube:

Can’t see the above video?

The English translation and subtitle for the final message is not a close translation of the Chinese. This is how we would translate the Chinese final message of the movie:

When you waiting for the future, you will have already lost forever…

The title of the short film is “Heaven’s Lunch“, and included in the Youku title for the short film was “six minutes could change your life“. The moral of the video is of “filial piety“, or to be good to one’s parents, and most importantly, to be good to one’s parents now and not wait until later because it may then be too late.

Screenwriter, Director, Cinematography, and Editor Liu Xiaoyu from the Hebei Institute of Communication submitted this as his entry into the Short Film competition for the upcoming Beijing College Student Film Festival. Liu Xiaoyu can be reached at telephone 15131196117, QQ 191174376, and email [email protected].

From Xinhua (1 & 2) & Sina:

Netizens cry after watching university student’s digital camera short film “Heavenly Lunch”

According to Liu Xiaoyu, the script was completed by August of last year. “At first, the script was titled ‘One Time’, but after a lot of thinking, it was finally set as ‘Heavenly Lunch’.” After the script was in order, Liu Xiaoyu began selecting actors and finding props. “The entire short film only cost a little more than 200 yuan, and most of it was spent on transportation and props.” Liu Xiaoyu says, “The short film was recorded on a digital camera, and the setting was my my new home. To help me make this short film, my parents purchased some more furniture, so the setting would be even more realistic.” After the film was made, Liu Xiaoyu asked mom and dad to be the very first audience. “It was only when I saw my mother shed tears uncontrollably that I knew I could stop worrying.”

What about you? Will you share any stories you may have about missed opportunities and regrets with parents or grandparents who have passed away? How do you treat your parents and elders?