Films A to Z

Runtime:

84 min.

Year of Production:

2017

Country:

China

Director:

Hu Jia

Cast:

Zhao Bing Rui
Yue Ye
Shen Shi Yu

Production Company:

V Shinebrothers Entertainment

Berlinale Section:

Panorama

Berlinale Category:

Feature Film

Li Qi is working for a dolphin show, his friend Ren Yu chugs along with his mobile karaoke, working the surfers’ beach along the coast of Hainan Island where they both live. The tourists are delighted by Ren’s physical similarity to the screen actor Leslie Cheung and are happy to pay for a photo with him – or to get drunk with him. When a young woman joins this polyamorous couple, things are no different at first and an open, three-way relationship would seem possible. Together, Li Qi, Ren Yu and Bai Ling set out to test the limitations of a restrictive society as well as their own sexuality. But then, something happens that rocks the protagonists to the core and will have a deep and lasting effect on them ... Director Hu Jia portrays a generation that would appear to move casually between tradition and a courageously alternative way of life. The film’s unusual setting is compelling from the word go. Largely without dialogue, this drama instead relies on small gestures that are full of meaning. The film’s quietly explicit images tell a tale of love, sex, trust and brutality – providing a picture of everyday life in China that is seldom seen on the big screen.

BIOGRAFIE Hu Jia

FILMOGRAFIE Hu Jia (selection)

2017 Bing Lang Xue (The Taste of Betel Nut)  2014 Dance With Me 

Interview with Jia Hu
Trailer "Bing Lang Xue" (The Taste of Betel Nut)