About

Lou Ye's sophomore feature is a tale of yearning that follows two pairs of lovers whose lives converge along the polluted river that runs through Shanghai. The film is narrated by an anonymous videographer whose girlfriend Meimei frequently disappears for days at a time. At the same time, a motorcycle courier's search for his lost love Moudan leads to mistaken encounters with her lookalike, slithering through seedy backstreets and 'mermaid' tanks at shady nightclubs. The dynamic, voyeuristic 16mm cinematography blurs the line between reality and memory, while parallels are drawn between the rapidly urbanising city and the ever-shifting characters that inhabit it. Originally banned in China for being submitted to the 2000 International Film Festival Rotterdam without appropriate authorisations, the film is now regarded as a classic of contemporary Chinese cinema and a key work in the career of trailblazing Sixth Generation filmmaker Ye.

Ages 15+