Suzhou River

Mardar, a motorbike courier who also gets involved in shady business, has a recurring job: he regularly has to take Moudan, the 16-year-old daughter of a wealthy liquor importer, to her aunt's house. The two fall in love, but things go wrong when she finds out that Mardar is involved in her kidnapping for ransom. She is so disappointed that she throws herself off a bridge into the Suzhou River, after which Mardan ends up in prison. Once released, years later, Mardan continues to search for his missing beloved, convinced that she is still alive. When he meets nightclub dancer Meimei, he is certain that she is Moudan.

This intriguing neo-noir story by Lou Ye about the obsessive search for a deceased lover, clearly inspired by Hitchcock's Vertigo, is a magnificent night-time portrait of Shanghai, portrayed here as a metropolis full of faded glory. And all this is told by an anonymous videographer who ultimately loses his lover too. Winner of the Tiger Award, IFFR 2000.