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REVIEWS Mystery Reviewed by Mike Goodridge


Lou Ye’s return to sanctioned film-making in China is anything but an artistic or thematic com- promise. A twisted and dark portrait of the amoral rich, corrupt police and sexually promiscuous in the country today, it is based on a selection of stories culled from the internet that reflect con- temporary society. Though the central story leans towards the melodramatic, Lou’s confident blend of realism and poetry keeps it on track. It is rare to see an official Chinese movie that


takes such a stark look at life today. Set in the rain- drenched city of Wuhan, Lou shows us an urban world of web and text-obsessed people, fast cars, designer fashions and Starbucks that could be any western city. Whether it will score a Chinese release is yet to


be determined, but sales agent Wild Bunch should make more robust international sales on Mystery than the two films Lou made in exile – Spring Fever and Love And Bruises. The film opens with a dramatic prologue in


which two arrogant young rich kids race each other in cars through a tunnel just outside the city. Coming out of the tunnel, one of the cars mows down and kills a young woman walking in the driving rain and ploughs into a truck. The story subsequently calms somewhat, as Lu Jie (Hao) is befriended in her daughter’s


UN CERTAIN REGARD


Chi-Fr. 2012. 98mins Director Lou Ye Production companies Dream Author Pictures, Les Films du Lendemain International sales Wild Bunch, www.wildbunch.biz Producers Lou Ye, Chen Xi, Nai An, Kristina Larsen Screenplay Mei Feng, Yu Fan, Lou Ye Cinematography Zeng Jian Editor Gaston Jacquet Production designer Peng Shaoying Music Peyman Yazdanian Main cast Hao Lei, Qin Hao, Qi Xi, Zu Feng, Zhu Yawen, Chang Fangyuan, Qu Ying


playground by Sang Qi (Qi) and her son, and the two decide to have playdates in the future. Over coffee one day, Sang Qi confides in Lu Jie that she believes her husband is cheating on her; at the very same moment Lu Jie looks out of the window and sees her own husband Yongzhao (Qin) walking into the hotel opposite with a young girl. A dis- traught Lu Jie waits for them to finish their assignation and follows the young girl. This girl, it emerges, is the one killed in the pre-title sequence. As Lu Jie faces up to the fact of her husband’s


apparently rampant infidelity, the police are persuaded by the rich parents of the young men to


not press criminal charges over the death of the girl. Her mother is paid off and only one cop — who coincidentally used to date the dead girl — presses for further investigation. There is more sexual deceit, revenge, blackmail


and murder before the film finishes, and along the way virtually all of the characters sacrifice any sense of decency in the quest for material riches and sexual fulfilment. Lou’s use of handheld camera has a visceral


impact but he also has a feeling for striking visual effects — and a penchant for hard rain to heighten the drama.


n 22 Screen International at Cannes May 18, 2012


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