Director: Jia Zhang-ke
Screenplay: Jia Zhang-ke
Cinematographer: Yu Li Kwai
Editing: Chow Keung
Sound: Zhang Yang
Cast.: Zhao Tao, Zhao Wei Wei, Wu Qiong, Zhou Qing Feng, Wang Hong Wei, Bai Ru, Lu Xi An
Production: Office Kitano, Lumen Films, E-Pictures
Distribution:
Ad Vitam
71 rue de la Fontaine au roi
75011 Paris
Tel: 0033-1.46.34.75.74
Fax: 0033-1.46.34.75.09
Year: 2002
35 mm, Color, 113 min, OV Mandarin Chinese, French subtitles
In Northern China at the boarder of Mongolia, Xiao and Bin Bin are two close friends spending most of their time hanging around. They only want to do what pleases them, in other words to do nothing. Xiao Ji falls in love with Qiao Qiao, the famous local singer. Bin Bin tries to save a relationship with a young student. When Xiao Ji flirts with Qiao Qiao in front of her fiancé, who happens to be also her boss, he is aware of playing a dangerous game but does not care. Even after being aggressed, he is determined to seduce this girl. As for Bin Bin, he feels his life is a bit more of a failure every day. The two friends feel frustrated and they want more. They decide to rob a bank, and, of course, they fail. We are in 2001 and they are only nineteen years old.
“The youngsters of “Unknown Pleasure” belong to the generation of birth control who will not have brothers or sisters. It is a generation confronted with the existential crisis of man as an individual. The tremendous impulsion for the development of the nation has disconcertingly put pressure on the young people and made them feel totally helpless.” Jia Zhang-ke
