Morning Sun attempts, in the space of two hours, to create an inner history of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution (c.1964-1976). It provides a multi-perspective view of a tumultuous period as seen through the eyes - and reflected in the hearts and minds - of members of the high-school generation that was born around the time of the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, and that came of age in the 1960s.
However, the documentary is not a comprehensive or chronological history of the Cultural Revolution; nor is it a study of elite politics or of student factionalism. The film essays rather a psychological history, attempting a cinematic account of experiences and emotions represented by the people, events and ardor of the period. The directors create an epic collage of interviews and archival footage detailing the emotional topography of the time and the period's enduring legacy.
