Happy Times

Director Zhang Yimou issued a casting call via the Internet for role of the blind girl. Eventual lead Dong Jie was selected from some 40,000 girls who auditioned for the role.

SPOILER: There are two versions of this film; the original Chinese release version and an International Version, which is six minutes longer. The International Versions features more content in the early scenes where the two couples come to the Happy Times Hut hoping to have sex. In the Chinese cut, these scenes are more ambiguous as to what the couples have in mind. Additionally, the International Cut has a longer and very different conclusion. In the Chinese cut, after Zhao (Benshan Zhao) writes the letter supposedly from Ying's father, the film cuts to him reading it to her as the credits start to role. In the International Cut, however, after Zhao leaves the restaurant in which he writes the letter, he is hit by a car. In hospital, his friends come to see him, finding the letter to Ying (Dong Jie). Upon returning to her apartment, however, they find it deserted. A tape recording Ying has made and left behind explains that she knew all along the Happy Times Hotel didn't exist, but she doesn't mind as they were the happiest days of her life. She then explains that she is going to Shenzhen. After the message is finished, Fu (Biao Fu) plays it again, reading aloud Zhao's letter at the same time. The film then cuts to Ying walking along a crowded city street as the credits role.

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