i admit to be somewhat jade about the movie genre of a young child soften the heart of his or her reluctant guardian . i have see enough of them  baby boom and kolya and about a boy and mostly martha and and to some extent and whale rider  to expect to be bore by the formula . what hold my attention in the king of mask be the grimness of the set represent small town china in the 1930 . extreme poverty be the norm and and girl child be consider so worthless to poor parent that they kill them at birth or give them to whomever would take them on the black market . when wang discover his purchased grandson and whom he nickname doggie and be a granddaughter and he initially cast her out and even though she show great promise a street perform heir . even after he reluctantly take her back and he not too upset when she kidnap . the film be gritty then and show the length to which a young and street smart girl have to go to survive in that society . the two lead performance be believable and beguile in their societal context . in a western society and one would expect at least a hint of resentment from wang at not have achieve more material success . wang so thoroughly accepts his station a a celebrated artist with low societal status and though and that i do and too . while doggie exhibit a level of precociousness and cunning that would be suspect in a modern and suburban child and it completely believable in the context of a kid constantly in survival mode in a society that treat poor girl like garbage . and after learn that her previous seven owner have physically and mentally abuse her and her fierce attachment to wang make perfect sense . the peek at small town life in a foreign country and the naturalness of the two lead actor and the surprising plot twist and and of course and the heartwarming resolution all contribute to a very watchable film .