In Zhang Yimou’s film The Story of Qiu Ju (秋菊打官司), the village head kicks Qiu Ju’s husband in a quarrel. Qiu Ju wants a 说法, an explanation, which to her means an apology. The police make the village head pay compensation, but he will not apologize. She takes her case to the town, then to the city, then to court.
At the end, an X-ray shows that her husband had a broken rib. The police take the village head away to serve fifteen days. Qiu Ju is left troubled and confused. The film won the Golden Lion in Venice in 1992.