Suzhou River (2000)

Suzhou River (Chinese: 苏州河; pinyin: Sūzhōu Hé) is a 2000 film by Lou Ye about a tragic love story set in contemporary Shanghai. The film, though stylistically distinct, is typical of "Sixth Generation" Chinese filmmakers in its subject matter of contemporary China's gritty urban experience. The film stars Zhou Xun in a dual role as two different women and Jia Hongsheng as a man obsessed with finding a woman from his past. The film was co-produced by the German Essential Films and China's Dream Factory.

Writer-director Lou Ye's second film, Suzhou River takes as its background the chaotically built-up riverside architecture of factory buildings and abandoned warehouses along the Suzhou River, rather than the glitzy new face of Shanghai.

Though well-received abroad, Suzhou River was not screened in its native China, as Lou Ye was banned from filmmaking for two years after screening his film at the International Film Festival Rotterdam without permission from Chinese authorities.

The movie is now authorized in China.

Synopsis

The story follows the transient lives of four people at the margins of Chinese society. An anonymous videographer (Hua Zhongkai) opens the film with a monologue on the eponymous Suzhou River and love. As the film's narrator, the videographer is nevertheless never seen aside from his hands, as the camera serves as his first-person perspective for the audience. He starts by telling the story of a romance between himself and Meimei (Zhou Xun), a performer at a dive bar in Shanghai. He discusses his love of Meimei, who makes a living putting on a blond wig and mermaid costume and swimming in a large water tank at the "Happy Tavern," and who disappears days at a time, leaving him heartbroken each time.

Actors