"Our first reaction to it is, of course, that the stupid bureaucratic Communist moralists missed the point: the movie is supposed to be tragic; Francesca missed her true life-fulfillment in love; her relationship with Kinkaid is what really matters to her... However, at a deeper level, the Chinese moralist bureaucrats were right: the film IS an assertion of family values; the affair HAD to be broken off, adultery is just an inherent transgression which supports family..."
