I caught this film on late night TV last night - I wasnt planning on actually watching a film today but I started watching this and found myself engrossed even while watchiong and reading the subtitles (which doesnt really bother me of the film is good and has a great story)
Zhao is a 50 year old unemployed loser making one last attempt at finding love. He courts a portly divorcee, but keeps having to lie to pass himself off as a better catch than he really is.
Eventually, of course, the lies backfire. Zhao tells his sweetheart that he is the manager of a fancy hotel. - which is actually a run down bus in a publice where "lovers" pay to have "rest times"She responds by passing her blind stepdaughter off on him, confident that he can easily find her employment at his fancy hotel.What follows is a funny, unlikely and touching relationship between Zhao and the blind girl Wu. While Zhao is terribly misguided, constructing elaborate deceptions to keep Wu "employed" at the non-existent hotel, he does these wrong things for the right reasons.
The film is directed by Zhang Yimou This isn't a masterpiece like "Raise the Red Lantern," or "The Road Home" but seeing the phrase "Directed by Zhang Yimou" should be enough to tell you the next two hours will be well spent.
The real revelation of this film is actor Jei Dong. I found myself wondering through the entire movie if she were really blind. She is that good. (And I still don't know the answer.)Don't expect a laugh out loud comedy if you see this movie. It is very funny in places, but frequently that humor is very uncomfortable. And frequently happy times aren't really what they seem.
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