Bliss

(Fu sheng)

by Sheng Zhimin

China

Director: Sheng Zhimin

Script: Sheng Zhimin, Gu Zheng

Cinematographer: Hu Jingbo

Editing: Kong Jinglei

Sound: Lu Yu, An Wei

Music: Zhao Li

Cast: Liao Zhong, Wang Lan, Xu tao, He Xing-quan, Guan Jiang-ge, He Qin

Production: Beijing Toptimes TV and Film Investment Co. Ltd.

World Sales:
Golden Network Asia Ltd.
Tel: 00852.27.51.18.86
Fax: 00852.27.50.48.62
Mail: [email protected]

Year: 2006

35 mm, Colour, 96 min, 
OV Mandarin with English Subtitles
French Electronic Subtitles

Locarno Film Festival 2006

Unreleased

French Premiere

A couple is visiting a Buddhist temple. Jian-jun is particularly fascinated by the innumerable Buddha. He is a taxi driver. His wife Xiaohong has just been made redundant and she tries to sell mattresses to avoid inactivity. Though they face daily difficulties, they remain a united couple. Lao Li is a former policeman. His wife left him long ago and he married Xiue. She has a delinquent son who has just returned home after staying in a reformatory. They are convinced their son can improve; they try to find him a job and give him a quiet and stable life. Very painful memories and heavy secrets hide behind those apparently quiet lives. Little by little, one discovers the links between all the characters. River flows day and night; and life is like a river, which keeps moving on without a pause.

People in this story seem to grasp something inside their hearts at a particular moment in their lives. Is it joy, or is it sorrow?