nfts passport to cinema

Suzhou River /  Suzhou He

Germany/China | 2000 | col | 83 mins | dir. Lou Ye, with Zhou Xun, Jia Hongshen, Yao Anlian, Nai An

Mainland Chinese writer Lou Ye's mesmerizing second film takes elements of film noir in this down and dirty study of modern day Shanghai. The grimy post-industrial river of the title is where the unseen narrator indulges in reverie over Mei Mei, a go-go dancer dressed as a mermaid, with whom he has an on-off love affair. The uncertaintly surrounding their relationship deepens with the arrival of Mardar, a motorcycle courier who believes Mei Mei to actually be Moudan, the love he tragically lost many years before.

Mon 3 Dec | 6.30pm | cert. 15