Keep Cool

In Beijing, the bookseller Zhao Xiaoshuai chases after his ex-lover An Hong. Every move he makes toward reconciliation enlarges the situation, drawing in a mysterious Mr Zhang, a nightclub owner and a chain of increasingly ridiculous misunderstandings. Zhang Yimou directed. It is a clear break from his period work: his first urban comedy, shot with a rock-driven soundtrack, a roving handheld camera and a lot of jump cuts, aiming at the chaotic energy of contemporary Beijing. Jiang Wen leads, and Zhang called him the best actor in China today, and intelligent. Li Baotian plays Mr Zhang and the model Qu Ying takes the sole female role. It was selected for the 1997 Cannes Film Festival and withdrawn at the last minute by Chinese authorities. Censors demanded substantive revisions, notably a happy ending. It is only Zhang's third contemporary-set film and the first major work he made without Gong Li. Who it is for: viewers who know Zhang Yimou only from his period films. Who it is not for: people who love his visual order. This one is deliberately scattered, loud and shot askew.