When his father dies, the boy grows up (a moment dramatized brilliantly by Hou in a single jolting cut), and turns into a quietly wild adolescent of the streets.

NEWYORKER: A Time to Live and a Time to Die

U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, who oversaw the case, said in a statement Ms. Hou and Mr. Pan "stuck a knife into the heart" of the city's campaign-finance law as part of a scheme "to corruptly advantage" Mr. Liu's campaign.

WSJ: Guilty Verdicts in Liu Trial

Hou, a longtime master of enfolding historical and personal subjects, here yields up platitudes of the minor artistic beau monde in which Song lands.

NEWYORKER: The Flight of the Red Balloon