Li Mi de caixiang (2008)

Director:

Cao Baoping

Writer:

Cao Baoping (written by)

Release Date:

18 September 2008 (China)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

When it comes to love, do we go on with hope, or choose to live in denial?

Plot:

When a mysterious death occurs, the lives of five unexpected strangers are suddenly intertwined together...

Plot Keywords:

Love | Letter | Search | Burning Letter | Gas Station

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

Xun Zhou	...	Li Mi
Chao Deng	...	Fang Wen / Ma Bing
Hanyu Zhang
Baoqiang Wang

Also Known As:

The Equation of Love and Death (Hong Kong: English title) (International: English title)
Ai shichang (Hong Kong: Mandarin title)
Ngoi satseung (Hong Kong: Cantonese title)

Runtime:

China:96 min

Country:

Hong Kong | China

Language:

Mandarin

Color:

Color

Certification:

Hong Kong:IIB

Filming Locations:

Yunnan Province, China

Company:

Huayi Brothers

Its all about the girl as Xun Zhou give a performance of a life time trying to figure out where her boyfriend went to

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Xun Zhou is a cab driver named Li Mi. She is a chain smoking, fast talking cabbie trying to work out the meaning of the universe or more specifically what exactly happened to her boyfriend who has been missing for four years. As the film opens we get a series of inter-cut cab rides as she talks to her stunned passengers about the numbers of their relationship, how many letters sent over how many months? Is there a pattern, a reason behind it all? She also shows them pictures of her missing ex in the hopes that someone will be able to tell her where he is. One day two gentlemen climb into her cab who will up set her life and who will set events in motion that will unravel the mystery of the missing boyfriend.

A hypnotic central performance by Xun Zhou is the reason to watch this very good little film. She is something almost other worldly in a performance that is, simply put, one of the most amazing things I've ever seen on the screen. I'm talking top three or at worst top five. She grabs you from the start and holds your attention and proceeds to rock you back on your feet, or in your chair, six ways to Sunday. Its amazing. If there is any justice this film will get some form of wide distribution and be seen around the world instead of in film festivals or as DVDs imported from Hong Kong. Its simply not right that the work Xun Zhou is doing will not be seen by more people. (And if you want to know how good she is compare her performance to her other great performance in things like Perhaps Love) Outside of Xun Zhou the film is good.

The cast is great. I don't think anyone is even remotely bad. The film belongs to Zhou, but everyone else holds their own and gives her something to act against.

The story is the weak spot here. It's a little too neat in how everything ends up tying together. Some of where this film wanders can seem a bit far a field, which is the reason I haven't given too many details about the plot. It's a bit choppy, with events not always seeming to play out completely, but at the same time the film is more a character study of Li Mi so the film shows us what we need to follow her quest. Its a battle between expectation and actuality and looking at part of the film again this morning I find it plays better the second time since I wasn't expecting it to behave in a certain way.

I really liked this film a great deal.

This is one of those films put on the list and keep an eye out for since it's a little gem thats going to be hidden from view.