Farmers fighting natural disasters and endless social turmoil on the deserted mountain ranges of northwestern China – sounds familiar? It should; ever since filmmakers Chen Kaige and Zhang Yimou gained international attention with Yellow Earth (1985) and Raise the Red Lantern (1991), respectively, the Loess Plateau has been a rich source of inspiration for Chinese directors.

Known for his award-winning works, including Lunar Eclipse (1999), Tuya’s Marriage (2006), Weaving Girl (2009) and Apart Together (2010), 47-year-old Wang Quanan falls somewhere in-between the Fifth Generation filmmakers, who are generally in favour of epic visual feasts and political metaphors, and his Sixth Generation peers, who use realism to reflect upon the nation’s disappearing landscapes. His latest film, White Deer Plain, sees him trying to combine the best of these two worlds.

The film is adapted from Chen Zhongshi’s novel of the same name – a book that is regarded as one of the nation’s most cherished literary treasures. The plot spans 50 years of rural life in White Deer village, delving into its generational wars and the clashes caused by changing values. It’s similar in scope to Gabriel García Márquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude, with an equally enormous cast. Meanwhile, Wang’s previous works have focused on contemporary women struggling in unhappy relationships, so we wonder whether he has the broad historical vision needed to pull off this three-hour epic. So far, the film has been getting mixed reviews on the festival circuit; we shall see if it fits better in a domestic context.

White Deer Plain is in cinemas from Thursday 13.