This intriguing Chinese drama tells the tale of an overworked ophthalmologist who has too many patients and too much pressure at home in the tiny apartment where she, her husband and her two children live. One day, she is required to perform three consecutive eye operations. Afterward the exhausted woman suffers a terrible heart-attack. As she dies, her life flashes before her eyes and these scenes make up the bulk of the film. She sees herself living through the reforms of the Cultural Revolution and how her skill earned her the respect of patients and peers. She also sees how her refusal to become a communist may have kept her from advancing to work in a hospital. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide