SHE, A CHINESE
She, A Chinese tells the story of a young Chinese woman, Mei, who leaves her monotonous village life behind for the excitement of the nearest big city, Chongqing. However, life there doesn't quite turn out as she expected it; fired from her factory job, she falls in love with Spikey, a hit man whose own past soon catches up with him. A spur of the moment decision takes Mei to London where she marries an elderly man, Mr Hunt. A new life begins for Mei, trapped in the silence of Mr Hunt's house, alienated and bored. Her frustration at life with Mr Hunt leads Mei into an affair with Rachid, an Indian immigrant who runs a local take away restaurant and she moves into the backroom of the restaurant to live with him. Rachid decides to return to his own country, leaving Mei pregnant and alone and facing an uncertain future.
Directed by Xiaolu Guo
98 minutes
Awards
Golden Leopard - Locarno Film Festival 2009
Script Prize - Hamburg Film Festival 2009
‘Risky, mysterious and provocative...stunning.’
Dazed and Confused
‘An unpretentiously sophisticated hybrid of documentary, creative writing, visual poetry and cinema.’
TIFF
‘AN ABSORBING CHARACTER STUDY OF A YOUNG WOMAN FROM RURAL CHINA WHO MAKES HER WAY TO THE BIG CITY’
Hollywood Reporter
★★★★
Time Out