Ping guo (2007)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Yu Li

Writers:

Li Fang (writer)
Yu Li (writer)

Release Date:

21 February 2008 (Russia)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

A look at modern-day life in China's capital centered on a ménage-a-quatre involving a young woman, her boss, her husband and her boss's wife.

Plot Keywords:

Rape | Employer Employee Relationship | Masseuse | Massage Parlor | Rape Victim

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Tony Leung Ka Fai	...	Lin Dong
Bingbing Fan	...	Liu Pingguo
Dawei Tong	...	An Kun
Elaine Jin	...	Wang Mei
Meihuizi Zeng	...	Xiao Mei
Zhenjiang Bao	...	Dr. Zhang
Li Fang	...	Mr. Lin
Jinhang Zheng	...	Lin's Girl Friend A
Manyang Zhang	...	Lin's Girl Friend B
Ailing Huang	...	Lin's Girl Friend C
Quinling Mong	...	Police Officer Wang
Yi Zhou	...	Young Police A
Tao Huang	...	Young Police B
Liyuan Dong	...	Fat Woman Customer
Xiaoho Lin	...	Illegal Doctor

Also Known As:

Lost in Beijing (International: English title) (USA) (new title)

Runtime:

Germany:112 min (Berlin International Film Festival)

Country:

China

Language:

Mandarin

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

China:17 | Hong Kong:III | Philippines:R-18 (MTRCB)

Filming Locations:

Beijing, China

Company:

Laurel Films

Trivia:

The film is banned in China, despite the heavily censored effort from the filmmaker. The producers have been banned from making movies in China for the next 2 years.

Take the time to watch this

A truly wonderful movie.

It is rare (incredibly so, given the number of mindless and/or self-pitying movies that spew out from Hollywood) to find a movie that portrays the strengths, weaknesses, goods and ills of its protagonists so well.

The people (note: not characters) in this flick are so well portrayed that, by the end, you don't know whom to hate and whom to side with (with one obvious exception -- but are even that person's decisions the right ones?) Given that it has been banned in China, I perhaps foolishly succumbed to the current US government's anti-China propaganda, and expected there to be political reasons for the ban, but that is quite obviously not the case.

If anything, the ban was more from the fear that people "down on the farm" would come to think that living in a major Chinese city carries with it the same fears and worries as living in a major US city -- which, let's be absolutely honest, is nowhere near the truth.

It's beautifully written and beautifully realised. Far and away better than any Western movie I've had to sit through, lately -- the words "sex" and "city" come to mind. In some ways, it's the same basic idea as that movie , but there's just no comparison.

The only possible bug-bear for Western viewers is that Chinese emotions may be "inscrutable" to them, because they're not used to the East/West differences in facial characteristics. I'm British, with a Royal Navy background, so I can perhaps see such things more easily than someone from "down on the farm" in the US -- but it can't be that hard to see what the characters are feeling, when the actors are playing the parts so well.

Be ready to laugh, to "maintain a stiff upper lip", to hate people for what they do, and to love those same people for other things they do.

It's a blinder, this one. Watch it.

Addendum: Could the IMDb spellchecker be made to take note that the Websters is not a real dictionary?