A remarkable story about a mother's devotion was first published on September 3, 2006 in a Chengdu, Sichuan Province newspaper, the Tianfu Morning Post. Two days before the story broke, Yan Ying, a 39-year-old mother of two, had given birth to her third child. The baby boy had yet to be given a name, and had been brought into the world by his divorced parents in the hope that the newborn's cord blood could be used to save the life of his blood cancer stricken brother. Doctors felt that the desperate attempt had a 25 percent chance of success.

Qin Xinfa, Yan Ying's eldest son, was diagnosed with myelodysplasia in 2000 at the age of six. The rare disease, unofficially called "preleukemia," can develop into leukemia and is often life-threatening on its own.

Yan Ying and her husband had divorced in 2002, but desperate to save her son she pleaded with her ex-husband to have another child. The husband agreed, but unfortunately the newborn's cord blood did not match. (Xinfa died one month later.)

The news story caused quite a stir as people marveled at Yan Ying's determination to save her child. Film director Wang Xiaoshuai was intrigued by the story and soon set aside the film he had been working on to devote his time to a project about this mother's incredible devotion.

Zuo, You (Left, Right) premiered at this year's Berlin Film Festival, where Wang Xiaoshuai won the Silver Bear award for the best screenplay.

An Agence France-Presse journalist at the festival reviewed the film with the words: "The film is set in Beijing... where scores of grey, high-rise apartment blocks form a physical maze as complex and oppressive as the emotional one negotiated by the main characters."

Indeed, Left, Right does weave a complex and oppressive story that is not a simple reenactment of Yan Ying's experience. The director took the story as his premise and embellished the details in order to strike an emotional nerve through the struggles of the characters.

The film begins when Mei Zhu's (Liu Weiwei) five-year-old daughter Hehe is diagnosed with leukemia. She learns that the only way to save her daughter is to give birth to another child with Hehe's father, her ex-husband Xiao Lu (Zhang Jiayi). However, both Mei Zhu and Xiao Lu have remarried and several attempts at artificial insemination failed. The couple must decide whether to reunite long enough to conceive a child.

The mother, Mei Zhu without hesitation says yes, but the father, Xiao Lu is not so sure, thinking about the impact the reunion will have on his new wife. A choice must be made between a dying child and a loving spouse. The film, Left, Right, as its name indicates, explores the four main characters' struggles at this emotional intersection in their lives.

Wang Xiaoshuai's delicate chronicle of each character's emotional development, or more precisely, changes, is what makes the film award-worthy.

The international release title of Wang's film In Love We Trust is more optimistic. "I wanted to show the lives of people under the pressure of parenthood, responsibility and work. I wanted to show how they cope with catastrophe in their lives," the 42-year-old director and father said recently. His solution is a combination of love, trust and rationality.

Weeks ago, actress Liu Weiwei paid a visit to her character's inspiration in Guiyang, Guizhou Province, where Yan Ying works as a domestic helper and lives in a rented house. When she found out that the actress was coming, Yan Ying prepared a special lunch and went to the street to welcome her, carrying in her arms the boy she gave birth to two years before.

Liu Weiwei was warmly welcomed into the home, where she learned that the young boy had been named Jiachuan. Comparing him to a photo of his brother Xinfa, she was amazed at how much the two looked alike.

After lunch and a heart-to-heart talk, Liu Weiwei gave Yan Ying a special card written by Wang Xiaoshuai. The front of the card displayed a large Chinese character for the word "Love" and on the inside Wang Xiaoshuai invited the mother to the upcoming domestic premiere of the film she had helped to inspire.

(CRIENGLISH.com March 17, 2008)