Family saga rewinds

A film adaptation of the literary classic White Deer Plain condenses the lives of 20 characters at a formative time in China's history. Liu Wei in Beijing learns more.

Wang Quan'an first read White Deer Plain when he was a student at Beijing Film Academy. The family saga set in Shaanxi province features plenty of history and sex.

He did not expect that years later he would direct the first film based on the novel. Many filmmakers, including Wang himself, have considered White Deer Plain to be a novel that could not be successfully adapted into a film. "The book is so intense and complicated that it is easier to adapt it into 10 films instead of one," he says.