Director: Li Yang
Screenplay: after novel Shen Mu by Liu Qingbang
Cinematographer: Liu Yong Hong
Editing: Li Yang, Karl Riedl
Sound: Wang Yu
Music: Lee-Jae-jin
Cast: Li Yixiang, Wang Shuangbao, Wang Baoqiang, An Jing, Bao Zhenjiang, Sun Wei, Wang Yining
Production: Li Yang, Tang Splendour Films Ltd, Bronze Age Films PTY Ltd
Distribution:
Paradis Films
6 rue Lincoln
75008 Paris
Tel: +33(0)1 53 53 44 10
[email protected]
Year: 2003
35 mm, Color, 92 min, Mandarin Chinese with French subtitles
It is wintertime in northern China. Song and Tang have a hard day work to do in the coal mine. Chaolu, who arrived a few days ago, goes with them. Deep in the pit, Song and Tang kill Chaolu with their pickaxes, cause the mine collapse and leave the place of the ‘accident’. They feign to be grief-stricken by the death of the man they pretend to be Tang’s brother; they insist to be paid an indemnity. Fearing that his illegal mining would be discovered, the owner meets their demand. After getting the money which is sent to their families, they start looking for their next ‘relative’…
Director Li Yang chose to root this criminal story within the socio political context of contemporary China to depict the fate of people rejected by a wild growth. Poignant, breathtaking, this film noir tells a simple but striking story which keeps the audience spellbound.
