South of the Clouds
A retired engineer fulfils a youthful dream to visit the remote mountain province of Yunnan. Youthful dreams being what they are, things don't work out and he ends in jail as the victim of a prostitution scam, but the stubbornness of old age turns out to be an undervalued virtue. Li Xuejian gives a fine performance as a decent man trying to fathom the rapacious of a new world which has passed him by. He finds that life is about being trapped and that the measure of a man is the way you learn to live with that. Famed Fifth Generation director, Tian Zhuangzhuang (Delamu) contributes a wonderful cameo as a world-weary police chief.
Reviews
“The film floats effortlessly across the line dividing fantasy and reality: just when the old man arrives at his destination, the narrative slips imperceptibly into a dream sequence that plays as though it were the idealised version of his odyssey. Somehow we never quite wake up from this dream, even when it turns into a horrible Kafkaesque nightmare.”
Kevin Lee, Senses of Cinema
When
7:30 PM Wednesday, 2 March
Buy Tickets Online
Greater Union - Cinema 2
Ticket Price
Full price $14
Industry $12
SPU Concession $10
As Part Of
General FeaturesAbout South of the Clouds
100 minutes35mm
1.85:1
In Mandarin with English subtitles
Print Source
ImagineAsia
Paul de Carvalho
paul@imagineasia.com.au
Awards
Best Film, FIPRESCI Prize, Hong Kong International Film Festival 2004Best New Director, Shanghai Film Festival 2004
Festivals
Berlin 2004Chicago 2004
Hong Kong 2004
London 2004
Melbourne 2004
Shanghai 2004
Sochi 2004
About the Director
Zhu Wen
Zhu Wen was born in Fujian, China in 1967. He graduated from the Energy Department of Southeastern University in 1989 and joined a factory as an engineer, soon leaving to devote himself to literature. Since 1994 he has published four anthologies of short stories, poetry and a novel.
Filmography
South of the Clouds (2003)Seafood (2001)
Partners
