Return to Dust review – paean to the simple life | World cinema
It’s an arranged marriage of convenience – other people’s convenience. Browbeaten Cao (Hai-Qing) is offloaded by her brother on to Ma (Wu Renlin), the humblest of peasants, with little more than a donkey to his name. But against all expectations, a tender bond develops between them. Together, they eke out a life governed by the rhythms of the natural world, finding in their marriage a solicitude and comfort that had been denied them both until now. It’s a gorgeous, quietly affecting film that finds an unassuming beauty in…