Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Bookmark this pageSo Close to Paradise (1998)
Director: Wang Xiaoshuai
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
Shot in 1995 but shelved by its producers until it could pass the censors, this was Wang's first 'legal' film after two underground features, The Days and the pseudonymous Frozen. Two country hicks in Wuhan, the notoriously sleazy city on the Yangtze, get tangled up with karaoke bar hostess Ruan (Wang), advertised as being 'from Vietnam' (that is, sexually available), but actually the mistress of a local triad boss. The elder guy, Gao Ping (Guo), becomes her lover while trying to use her to get to a triad thug who has tricked him. Their doomed relationship is seen through the eyes of the other guy Dongzi (Shi), a 'shoulder pole' labourer in the docks, who delivers a typical Wang Xiaoshuai voice-over wryly looking back on these events from some point in the future. An accomplished piece of neo-urban realism with noir inflections, but it doesn't have the resonances of Wang's earlier films.Author: TR
Cast & crew
Director: Wang Xiaoshuai
Producer: Han Sanping, Tian Zhuangzhuang, Li Buo
Cast: Wang Tong, Shi Yu, Guo Tao, Wu Tao full cast
Genre(s): Thrillers
Duration: 93 mins
Top Stories
Ridley Scott interview
Director Ridley Scott tells Cath Clarke why he's making a science fiction comeback
Cannes Film Festival 2012: half-time report
Dave Calhoun reports on the hits, misses and a shocking new masterpiece from Michael Haneke
What do you think?
Post your review now