Lost In Beijing (DVD) (Uncut) (Hong Kong Version) DVD Region All
Tony Leung Ka Fai (Actor)
| Fan Bing Bing (Actor)
| Elaine Kam (Actor)
| Tong Da Wei (Actor)
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Customer Review of "Lost In Beijing (DVD) (Uncut) (Hong Kong Version)"
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Stephen
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November 4, 2008
See all my reviews
November 4, 2008
Disappointed
| I don't see how this can be called 'uncut' as everything seems to be censored. The plot is poorly thought out and on many instances there are long pauses. Character personalities are mostly bland or dull, and that scene which got this DVD banned in China is fully clothed. |
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Kevin Kennedy
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March 2, 2008
See all my reviews
March 2, 2008
2 people found the following helpful
Modern day story of the Fall
Modern day story of the Fall
|
Those who see "Lost in Beijing" as making sweeping social or cultural statements about contemporary China may be making a mistake. I suspect the clue to understanding this gritty and suspenseful film lies in the movie's Chinese title, "Ping Guo" or "Apple". This is not merely the name of the film's central character; it inevitably brings to mind the story of the fall of man in the Garden of Eden, when Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit. "Lost in Beijing", then, is a story about sin and its metastasizing consequences. Pingguo (Fan Bingbing), her husband Kun (Tong Dawei), and her best friend Xiao Mei (Zeng Meihuizi) have come to Beijing from their small town to build better lives for themselves. Pingguo and Xiao Mei work at a foot massage parlor owned by Lin (Tony Leung Ka-Fai); Kun works as a window-washer on office towers. Problems arise when Xiao Mei is fired for slashing off the toenail of a customer after he tries to become to too familiar with her. Pingguo and Xiao Mei drown their sorrows at a drunken lunch, then Pingguo returns to work and passes out. When Lin sees her supine body, he decides to have his way with her. By an astonishing coincidence, Kun happens to be washing the window of the room in which the abuse is occurring and he witnesses the event. Kun and Pingguo become obsessed with obtaining some kind of recompense for Lin's behavior. For a while the film feels as if it is going to become a tawdry version of "The Story of Qiu Ju", until the plot becomes complicated further by Pingguo's pregnancy. With the father of this new life unknown, the characters' scheming machinations go into high gear. Lin, longing for a son, offers Pingguo and Kun a fortune if they will give the child to Lin. Kun lets greed overcome anger and agrees to sell the baby, if tests prove the baby to be Lin's. But this only begins to scratch the surface of the depths to which Kun will sink to grasp the money Lin offers. Director Li Yu masterfully pulls the strings on the complex schemes of the film's soiled characters. After a rough start with three excessively graphic sex scenes in the first 21 minutes, the film becomes a Hitchcockian brew of mixed motives. Cinematographer Wang Yu's handheld camerawork creates a jittery mood of intimacy and immediacy that heightens the suspense. The film's cast is superb, with Leung Ka-Fai stirring up another powerhouse performance as Lin, a man with larger-than-life appetites and desires. Also memorable is Tong Dawei, whose Kun becomes a simmering cauldron of anger and greed. While I suspect that I would have preferred a less graphic version of the film, I definitely can recommend "Lost in Beijing" very, very highly for a mature audience. This raw tale of sin and its consequences will stay with you for a long while. |
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United States - English