Unknown Pleasures (film)

Unknown Pleasures Chinese pinyin Rn xio yo literally Free from all constraints is a 2002 Chinese film directed by Jia Zhangke, starring Wu Qiong, Zhao Weiwei and Zhao Tao as three disaffected youths living in Datong in 2001, part of the new Birth Control generation. Fed on a steady diet of popular culture, both Western and Chinese, the characters of Unknown Pleasures represent a new breed in the Peoples Republic of China, one detached from reality through the screen of media and the internet.

Unknown Pleasures follows three disaffected, aimless young people in the industrial city of Datong in Chinas Shanxi province throughout 2001. Nineteenyearold Bin Bin Zhao Weiwei lives with his mother, an adherent of the Falun Gong, in a small apartment near Datongs textile mill. Bin Bins best friend, the reckless Xiao Ji Wu Qiong, lives in an even smaller apartment with his father, and spends his time riding his motorbike around the city. The two friends eventually meet Qiao Qiao, a young singer and dancer working for the Mongolian King Liquor company as a spokesmodel. Xiao Ji immediately becomes enamored with Qiao Qiao, which gets him in trouble with Qiao Qiaos boyfriend, the loan shark and local thug, Qiao San Li Zhubin.For much of the early parts of the film, the three characters seem to follow an aimless lifestyle. Unemployed, Bin Bin meets with his girlfriend to watch television on most days, while Xiao Ji seems to do nothing at all aside from flirt with Qiao Qiao. When an explosion rocks part of the citys textile mill, the characters are briefly pushed into action. Qiao Qiao, desperate to get her injured father into the hospital, has Xiao Ji rush to the bank in order to withdraw 2000 for the entry fee. As thanks, she takes Xiao Ji and Bin Bin first to lunch, where Xiao Ji references watching Quentin Tarantinos Pulp Fiction, and then to a discotheque. While dancing, Xiao Ji is led away by Qiao Sans men, who humiliate and beat him. Enraged, Xiao Ji tries to avenge himself but is stopped by Bin Bin, who tells him that Qiao San keeps a gun on his person. Undeterred, Xiao Ji continues to pursue Qiao Qiao, who is eventually abandoned by her boyfriend. When the two young people end up in a hotel room, Qiao Qiao tries to explain to Xiao Ji the philosophy of Zhuangzi who, in his poem Ren Xiao Yao, philosophized that we should do what feels good. Soon afterward, it is learned that Qiao San has died in a car accident. The film implies that Qiao Qiao nevertheless leaves

Source: Wikipedia