Superhero for our times

A new biographical film, The Woman Behind the Man, stars veteran actor Li Xuejian and actress Tao Huimin in the main roles.[Photo provided to China Daily]

He may not have battled aliens to save the planet, but a new film about an army general and his wife, who gave up creature comforts to help impoverished villagers nearly 60 years ago, has just hit screens to mark the 95th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China. Xu Fan reports.

Nearly 60 years ago, Gong Quanzhen made a very bold decision.

An army general's wife and a middle school teacher in Urumqi, the capital of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, she gave up the conveniences of an urban existence to follow her husband, Gan Zuchang, to his native place－an impoverished village in East China's Jiangxi province.

It was 1957. The village had no electricity. The couple began life afresh there as farmers.

A city girl who had never worked on a farm, she walked for the first time barefoot carrying heavy loads.

"People couldn't understand them. Gan was the first army general in New China to quit a senior military post, to be a farmer," says Lei Xianhe, the director of the biographical film, The Woman Behind the Man, based on the couple.

The feature, starring veteran actor Li Xuejian－who plays Gan－and actress Tao Huimin－who plays Gong－was released nationwide on July 1, as part of the celebrations marking the 95th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China.