Suzhou River (film)
| Suzhou River | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Traditional | 蘇州河 |
| Simplified | 苏州河 |
| Mandarin | Sūzhōu hé |
| Directed by | Lou Ye |
| Produced by |
Philippe Bober Nai An |
| Written by | Lou Ye |
| Starring |
Zhou Xun Jia Hongsheng |
| Music by | Jörg Lemberg |
| Cinematography | Wang Yu |
| Edited by | Karl Riedl |
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Release date
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Running time
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83 minutes |
| Country | China |
| Language | Mandarin |
Suzhou River (Chinese: 苏州河; pinyin: Sūzhōu Hé) is a 2000 film by Lou Ye about a tragic love story set in contemporary Shanghai. The film, though stylistically distinct, is typical of "Sixth Generation" Chinese filmmakers in its subject matter of contemporary China's gritty urban experience. The film stars Zhou Xun in a dual role as two different women and Jia Hongsheng as a man obsessed with finding a woman from his past. The film was co-produced by the German Essential Films and China's Dream Factory.
Writer-director Lou Ye's second film, Suzhou River takes as its background the chaotically built-up riverside architecture of factory buildings and abandoned warehouses along the Suzhou River, rather than the glitzy new face of Shanghai.
Though well-received abroad, Suzhou River was not screened in its native China, as Lou Ye was banned from filmmaking for two years after screening his film at the International Film Festival Rotterdam without permission from Chinese authorities.
The movie is now authorized in China.
The story follows the transient lives of four people at the margins of Chinese society. An anonymous videographer (Hua Zhongkai) opens the film with a monologue on the eponymous Suzhou River and love. As the film's narrator, the videographer is nevertheless never seen aside from his hands, as the camera serves as his first-person perspective for the audience. He starts by telling the story of a romance between himself and Meimei (Zhou Xun), a performer at a dive bar in Shanghai. He discusses his love of Meimei, who makes a living putting on a blond wig and mermaid costume and swimming in a large water tank at the "Happy Tavern," and who disappears days at a time, leaving him heartbroken each time.
The videographer then begins relating the story of Mardar (Jia Hongsheng), a small-time crook and motorcycle courier, and Moudan (Zhou Xun), the daughter of a rich businessman, whom Mardar is hired to ferry around town whenever Moudan's father brings home one of his mistresses. During their brief encounters on his motorcycle, Mardar and Moudan fall in love. Unbeknownst to Moudan, however, Mardar has become involved in a kidnapping scheme with his former lover Xiao Ho (Nai An), and the criminal Lao B (Yao Anlian). Mardar is ordered by Xiao-Ho and Lao B to take Moudan to an abandoned warehouse while they orchestrate a pickup of the ransom money. The kidnapping goes awry when Lao B betrays and murders Xiao Ho as soon as the money is in hand. Mardar, unaware of these developments, prepares to move the girl when she asks him how much her ransom was. Mardar answers 450,000 RMB. "Am I so cheap?" she screams and runs away. Mardar chases after her only to see her jump into the Suzhou River, apparently to her death. Mardar is then arrested and imprisoned. Moudan's body, however, is never found.
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