泰洙（申贤俊 饰）大大半生都和黑社会组织牵扯不清，终于因为犯下了杀人的罪行而被捉拿归案，面临着下半生都要在监狱里度过的绝望命运。英友（徐俊豪 饰）是泰洙曾经的好友，身为刑警的他因为两人不同的人生选择而和泰洙渐行渐远。在得知了泰洙的近况之后，英友找到了他。原来，英友的女儿患上了肝衰竭症，唯有做肝移植手术才能够保住性命，英友希望泰洙能够贡献出自己的肝脏，泰洙答应了，而他因此获得了十天的自由生活，就此住进了英友家中。实际上，泰洙内心里一直都在盘算着逃跑的注意，然而，在见到了英友的女儿世熙（赵秀敏 饰）之后，泰洙动摇了。

丈夫远在异地工作，梁丹（秦燕 饰）独立抚养身患轻度智障的儿子冬冬（黄海波 饰）。冬冬在六岁时患癫痫性痉挛，导致大脑损伤。梁丹相信儿子的病终会被治好，然而周遭的压力却不断袭来：学校将冬冬劝退；单位又禁止梁丹带儿子上班；周围的人不断投来异样的目光，甚至梁丹的丈夫也决定将儿子抛弃。但无论生活怎样艰苦，她始终不放弃令冬冬康复的希望……本片荣获1990年法国南特三大洲国际电影节评委会奖和公众大奖、1992年瑞士国际电影节导演特别奖、1992年英国爱丁堡电影节欧洲影评人菲普雷希奖、1993年获柏林电影节青年论坛影评人奖。

Canadian surgeon Dr. Norman Bethune (Donald Sutherland) journeys 1,500 miles into China to reach Mao Zedong's eighth route Army in the Wu Tai mountains where he will build hospitals, provide care, and train medics. Flashbacks narrate the earlier events of his life: a bout with tuberculosis at the Trudeau sanatorium; the self-administration of an experimental pneumothorax; the invention of operative instruments; his fascination with Socialism; a journey into medical Russia; and the founding of a mobile plasma-transfusion unit in war-torn Spain. Bethune twice married and twice divorced his wife Frances (Dame Helen Mirren), who chooses abortion over child-rearing in her unstable marriage. By 1939, Bethune had been dismissed from his Montreal Hospital for taking unconventional risks, and from his volunteer position in Spain for his chronic problems of drinking and womanizing. As his friend states: "China was all that was left." Even there, Bethune confidently ignores the advice of Chinese officials until heavy casualties make him realize his mistake and lead him to a spectacular apology.

在清政府对人民征收沉重赋税、民不聊生的背景下，宋景诗（崔嵬 饰）领导的黑旗军举行了抗捐起义，与白莲教、捻军并肩作战。然而，地方恶霸地主杨鸣谦、王二香率手下向黑旗军发动进攻，同时清军将领胜保也参与围剿黑旗军，使黑旗军陷入危机。为了保存战斗实力，宋景诗向清军诈降。胜保因谎报战功而被问罪，宋景诗趁机重新拉起队伍，打回山东，击败地主武装，处死杨鸣谦。然而，朝廷派来新的将领僧格林沁镇压黑旗军，引入了英帝国主义的洋枪队及地主武装。黑旗军陷入四面楚歌，连连受挫。在战斗中，许多黑旗军家属被杀害，包括宋景诗的母亲及妻子。然而，宋景诗并没有屈服，他鼓励众将士不要气馁，继续与帝国主义和清军英勇作战，最终投奔了太平军，与兄弟部队一起继续战斗。