Shower (film)
| Shower | |
|---|---|
DVD cover
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| Directed by | Zhang Yang |
| Produced by | Peter Loehr |
| Written by |
Zhang Yang Liu Fendou Huo Xin Diao Yi'nan Cai Shangjun |
| Starring |
Zhu Xu Pu Cunxin Jiang Wu |
| Music by | Ye Xiaogang |
| Cinematography |
Zhang Jian Bieru |
| Edited by | Yang Hongyu |
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Production
company |
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| Distributed by | Sony Pictures Classics (United States) |
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Release date
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14 September 1999 (TIFF) 6 November 1999 |
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Running time
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92 minutes |
| Country | China |
| Language | Mandarin Chinese |
| Budget | $350,000 |
Shower (Chinese: 洗澡; pinyin: Xǐ zǎo) is a 1999 Chinese comedy-drama film directed by Zhang Yang and starring Zhu Xu, Pu Cunxin and Jiang Wu. It premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on 14 September 1999 and won the FIPRESCI Prize. Though only the second directorial work by Zhang and the third production of Imar Film, Shower was selected for numerous film festivals, including San Sebastian Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival, and Seattle International Film Festival, where it received many awards.
Written by Zhang and a team of young scriptwriters, the film revolves around a family-run bathhouse in Beijing. An aged father and his younger, mentally challenged son have been working hard every day to keep the bathhouse running for a motley group of regular customers. When his elder son, who left years ago to seek his fortune in the southern city of Shenzhen, abruptly returns one day, it once again puts under stress the long-broken father-son ties. Presented as a light-hearted comedy, Shower explores the value of family, friendship, and tradition.
An aged father known to everyone as Old Liu (played by Zhu Xu) and his younger, mentally challenged son Liu Erming (Jiang Wu) run and live in a traditional bathhouse for men in an old district in Beijing. The bathhouse provides a variety of peripheral services, including haircut, massage, shaving, fire cupping, even old-style pedicure, to a motley group of regular customers, many of whom are retired old Beijingers. The patrons usually spend their entire day, day after day, in the bathhouse, engaging in a game of Chinese chess or cricket fighting. As such, they have formed close bonds not only with one another, but also with Old Liu, who is manager, staff, mediator in squabbles, and marriage consultant all in one. One of the patrons is a man who sings 'O Sole Mio in the shower, but when he goes to sing it in public he loses his ability, until Erming provides him with a shower from a hose. Another patron is Mr. Zhang, whose marriage has been in trouble ever since his wife ran after a thief while naked, and Old Liu arranges a reconciliation by having the man find his wife in the bath. After the bathhouse closes in the evening, Old Liu and Erming go for their daily jog around the neighbourhood, after which they engage in a contest to hold their breath in water as they bathe. Even simple tasks such as cleaning up the bathhouse are tremendous fun for the duo, both of whom behave like little children at these times.
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