Arts Centre Vooruit, Ghent, Belgium

Mei, a young Chinese girl bored with life in her little village, decides to quit for the nearest town, Chongqing. But life there isn’t much easier; sacked from a clothing factory shortly after starting work, she gets a job in a hairdressing salon. There she falls for Spikey, a local mafia’s contract killer. One evening, he comes home covered in blood and dies at her feet. Mei discovers several bundles of banknotes under his mattress, and sets off for London where she marries Mister Hunt, a man of seventy. In her new husband’s silent home, a new life begins. Will she be satisfied with this monotonous routine? Xiaolu Guo has made a film in which the challenges Mei must confront do not deter her quest for a more promising future. Through this journey and the people Mei meets, the film conjures the mix of cultures in the early 21st century and how people, lifestyles, consumer goods, and music all cross borders. Although these cross-cultural currents bring about a degree of chaos in Mei’s life, she finds the will to escape isolation, and to follow her desires, come what may. Winner of the Golden Leopard in Locarno.

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