An absurd village argument works its way through the Chinese legal system in The Story of Qiu Ju, exploring the problems which can occur when a well-intentioned bureaucracy interacts with a people accustomed to a rigidly hierarchical society.

Gong Li is very good as a stubborn peasant determined to receive an apology from the equally stubborn village head for a slight to her husband's dignity. Her quest begins with the absurd step of asking the official who wronged her husband what she should do to get justice, and continues with a reasonable settlement proposal from a local local official. The settlement fails because both parties are more concerned with their sense of honor than the financial consequences of their decisions, and she proceeds up the ladder of the justice system, encountering mostly well-meaning officials, but also some urban sharps ready to take advantage of naive justice seekers from the country. In the end, the legal system is no more capable of providing the justice that she seeks than the old system would have been, and the rigidity of the bureaucracy defeats the efforts of its officials to reach a truly just result.

The rest of the cast is also good, especially Lau Pui-Kei as the injured husband who watches bemusedly as his wife relentlessly prosecutes his case, and Lei Ke-Sheng as the village head who seems not to realize that times have changed and that his position does not afford him the same unquestioned authority that it would have in a prior generation.

The Story of Qiu Ju is an interesting look at village life and the justice system, in which director Zhang Yi-Mou uses comedy to provide serious insight into Chinese society and its people.