‘Ermo’

Zhou Xiaowen’s 1994 film takes its title from its peasant heroine (Ailya, pictured) with a much-older, now impotent husband and their young son. Ermo supports her family working like a slave making noodles. Meanwhile, her fat and lazy next-door neighbor not only has a lean, hard-working husband with a truck but also a color TV. The entire film turns upon Ermo’s determination to get a bigger set than her neighbor (Cinemax Wednesday at 11:30 p.m.).