Directed by Lou Ye, Produced by Nai An and Philippe Bober
Written by Lou Ye
Cast: Zhou Xun (Moudan/Meimei), Jia Hongsheng (Mardar)
Mandarin with English subtitles
The second film by now acclaimed Sixth Generation filmmaker Lou Ye, ‘Suzhou He’ is a multi-layered love story whose narrative continually works against itself. The result is a complex but deliberately amateurishly filmed movie quite unlike any of the films we have seen before. Often compared to Hitchcock’s Vertigo or Wong Kar-Wai’s Chungking Express, Lou Ye was clearly influenced by other great filmmakers, but ‘Suzhou He’ is not a remake or an imitation but a reinvention, a riff on these and other sources, producing something new. Lou Ye has made several internationally acclaimed, but banned in China, movies, the most controversial being Summer Palace which earned him a 5-year ban on filming in China. His movies are not content to present a straight forward story observed by an audience from the outside; rather he takes us inside the narrative raising the uncertainties and conflicts going through the main character’s mind as the story progresses. In Suzhou He the audience is constantly made to question what the film is about. Is it a love story, is it a Shanghai urban tale, is it a fantasy, a thriller? Lou Ye uses an unnamed narrator as the focal point of the film. He is a videographer available for hire and much of the film is shot as if he was filming it with a handheld camera. As you would expect from a film that turns narrative against itself, the plot is slippery. It involves two couples, with the same actress playing both female parts. The first, set years before the main action of the film, involves Moudan (Zhou Xun with pigtails) and a withdrawn motorcycle courier, Mardar (Jia Hong Sheng). Hired to look after Moudan whenever her father has an assignation, Mardar lives for mobility, cruising on his motorbike. Moudan adores him, he returns her love, then his employers require him to kidnap her for ransom. He complies and when she is released and learns the paltry sum asked for her she runs off and leaps into Suzhou River. He follows but cannot find her. The other two lovers are the unnamed videographer narrator, ostensibly filming this movie, and Meimei (also played by Zhou Xun) a young woman who is employed to perform in a glass water tank as a blond mermaid in a seedy local bar. These two stories blur together and the Vertigo plot of man obsessed with woman in blond wig who looks like his lover who plunged to her death kicks in. Suzhou River, however, goes on to make the story much more complex than it’s Hitchcock connection, melding it with the subjectivity of Wong Kar-Wai’s Chungking Express and making that, in turn, more complex than the original. A major actor in the movie is Suzhou River itself. It is portrayed as a place of stories and the wonderful opening sequence has a voice over which articulates this with the river carrying “a century worth of stories” (“and rubbish, which makes it the filthiest river.) …. “if you watch it long enough, the river will show you everything.” The stories revolve around and end with the river. Some critics have called this movie an ‘ecological movie’ because of the way it involves the characters and you as audience with the movement and the rubbish of the river. Others stress the significance of the river to the repeated theme of storytelling in the movie. Like Usual Suspects it makes the art of storytelling central, causing the audience to question what is real and unreal, as the characters become trapped in their own stories. It draws the audience in, makes us engage our powers of belief. 83 minutes Filmed originally as two 37-minute episodes for the television production (less strictly controlled than film) Supercities, featuring young filmmakers. A substantial financial input from Berlin-based producer Philippe Bober turned it into a full-length feature. This allowed Lou Ye to direct without compromise. The film is still banned in China; Lou Ye was banned from filmmaking for 2 years following its release. Paris Film Festival, 2000 Grand Prix and Best Actress (Zhou Xun) Rotterdam Film Festival, 2000 Tiger Award Viennale, 2000, FIPRESCI Award "for its realistic and documentary approach to thriller conventions, and its expressive use of narrative and cinematic structure". Fantasporto, 2002, Critics Award Lou Ye’s other films: Love and Bruises (France, 2011); Spring Fever (France, 2009); Summer Palace (2006); Purple Butterfly (2003); Weekend Lover (1993, released 1995)Our evening will be hosted by Bites Lounge by CHAI Living who have kindly provided the venue, equipment, a discount on the menu AND a specially prepared Tapas platter for RAS members to enjoy while watching the movie.
Donation suggested: RMB 20.00 (RAS members) and RMB 50.00 (non-members) those unable to make the donation but wishing to attend may contact us for exemption, prior to the RAS Film Club viewing. Membership applications and membership renewals will be available at this event.
RSVP ESSENTIAL AS SPACE IS LIMITED FULL ADDRESS AND DIRECTIONS: Bites Lounge by CHAI Living Embankment Building, Ground Floor410C North Suzhou Road Hongkou( betweenSichuan Road and Henan Road) Tel: (021)36033511 In Chinese: 河滨大楼，苏州北路410C底楼（在四川路河南路之间） Line 10 to Tiantong Road – exit 5 brings you out at the corner of the two roads and you will see the back of the building on the diagonal corner OR Line 2 to Nanjing East Road and walk across Henan Road bridge to North Suzhou Road – the large building on the right is Embankment Building.