There is an attempt at artistry in stark black-and-white images and rough veracity to the first-time performances of the predominately teenage cast in Hani , so it might feel harsh to compare Hou Dasheng’s disconnected debut feature with such scandalized sexploitation fare as Harry Revier’s Child Brides of the Ozarks . But the striking similarities between these two works, which at first glance seem as far removed from one another as they are regionally, speak louder than the uneven melee of poetry and premeditated provocation. The latter, of course, is also the main point of interest and sales potential for the bleak inspection of normalized child abuse.

A motorcycle can’t give birth to his babies, says the 14-year old title character (Gao Xiaokang) to 12-year-old Pushiha (Pu Juan). What’s going on between them isn’t puppy love or childhood romance, but a callous deal made of bartering and business. But in the impoverished mountain village, there is no way for someone like Hani to make the 5000 Yen dowry demanded by his preteen fiancée’s grandmother. Pushiha, on the other hand, is well aware that her sole relative can only make this deal once as every additional year will decrease her marriage value. An ill-conceived robbery and regional petty crime boss Heche (Gao Hua) don’t make things easier.

This goes also for the audience, whose understanding of the scrambled story is further complicated by side plots concerning the new teacher Miss Tian (Tian Tian) and local mayor (Deng Jinfu). Though the expressive chiaroscuro cinematography highlights the scenery’s social-realism, its artifice is obvious. The topic’s salaciousness is set off by tame visuals and events, the moralist framing covering an exploitative gaze, and ultimately the very issue of child marriages, bride buying and the backward ways of poor provincial people. It’s all there, together with the obligatory, if likely accurate, claim the Chinese censors wouldn’t allow this movie past them. But this forbidden allure doesn’t outweigh the dramaturgical deficiencies.

Hani premiered at this year’s Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival .