Suzhou River

83 minutes | 2000 | Fiction | Mandarin Chinese | English Subtitles
4K Restoration Canadian Premiere

Mardar (JIA Hongsheng) is a young motorcycle courier in Shanghai. One day he is asked by a smuggler to drive around his sixteen-year-old daughter, Moudan (ZHOU Xun). They grow fond of each other, but their love is disrupted when Mardar get involves in a plot to kidnap Moudan. She throws herself into the Suzhou River. Years later, Mardar meets the dancer Meimei, and thinks he sees Moudan in her.

Born in 1965 and graduated from the Beijing Film Academy with a major in directing, LOU Ye is a leading figure of the Chinese Six-Generation directors. He first rose to international fame with Suzhou River (2000) and became well-established with his Cannes competition entries Purple Butterfly (2003), Summer Palace (2006) and Spring Fever (2009). His Mystery (2012) was selected to compete in Un Certain Regard at Cannes, Blind Massage (2014) to compete for the Golden Bear at Berlinale, and The Shadow Play (2018) was nominated for Best Director at the Golden Horse Awards. His latest feature Saturday Fiction (2019) has been selected to compete for the Golden Lion at Venice Film Festival and had its North American premiere at TIFF.