Ping guo (2007)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Yu Li

Writers:

Li Fang (writer)
Yu Li (writer)

Release Date:

21 February 2008 (Russia)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

A look at modern-day life in China's capital centered on a ménage-a-quatre involving a young woman, her boss, her husband and her boss's wife.

Plot Keywords:

Rape | Rape Victim | Husband Wife Relationship | Blackmail | Abusive Husband

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Tony Leung Ka Fai	...	Lin Dong
Bingbing Fan	...	Liu Pingguo
Dawei Tong	...	An Kun
Elaine Jin	...	Wang Mei
Meihuizi Zeng	...	Xiao Mei
Zhenjiang Bao	...	Dr. Zhang
Li Fang	...	Mr. Lin
Jinhang Zheng	...	Lin's Girl Friend A
Manyang Zhang	...	Lin's Girl Friend B
Ailing Huang	...	Lin's Girl Friend C
Quinling Mong	...	Police Officer Wang
Yi Zhou	...	Young Police A
Tao Huang	...	Young Police B
Liyuan Dong	...	Fat Woman Customer
Xiaoho Lin	...	Illegal Doctor

Also Known As:

Lost in Beijing (International: English title) (USA) (new title)

Runtime:

Germany:112 min (Berlin International Film Festival)

Country:

China

Language:

Mandarin

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

China:17 | Hong Kong:III | Philippines:R-18 (MTRCB)

Filming Locations:

Beijing, China

Company:

Laurel Films

Trivia:

The film is banned in China, despite the heavily censored effort from the filmmaker. The producers have been banned from making movies in China for the next 2 years.

Beijing Baby Blues

This is a story about Liu, who works in a massage parlor (mostly just foot massages) for boss Lin Dong. After getting drunk with a friend from work who was fired, she gets raped by Lin Dong. It turns out, Lin's husband An Kun, a window cleaner just happening to be cleaning the windows at the time and witnessing this, tries to extort money from the boss. Liu becomes pregnant and there is a question of the unborn baby's paternity. Since the boss's wife Wang Mei is unable to bear children, Lin Dong wants badly to be a father, and makes a deal with the girl and her husband, that if its his baby, he'll keep it and give the couple $100,000 yuan. The film is at first farcical due to its unusual premise. It then becomes a strange morality play, that telling lies turns to pain. Beijing is pictured in every outdoor frame of the film as bustling, with constant high rise construction going on. However, I don't see specifically what relevance it has to the story, except to highlight haves and have nots (and want a lot mores). No joke here, it could have been "lost" in any decent sized city in the world. The real problem here is that there are no characters to like, except, to an extent, the wife of the boss, Wang Mei. This film, by the end, filled me with more indifference than pity or hope. I get it, money probably is everything. Everyone in this film made their bed and is now lying in it (the pun is completely intentional). If you have seen the actors in other films and like them, by all means go see this film. However, if you're not a giant fan of films made in mainland China, I'd skip it.