Sexual obsession, killing, kidnapping, pretty girls and petty criminals. Welcome to modern-day Shanghai. Our guide is writer-director Lou Ye who depicts his dream-like city with such truth and insight that by the closing credits there's a real sense of shared local knowledge.

Mardar (Jia Hongshen), is in love with a crook's teenage daughter, Moudan (Zhou Xun, The Emperor and the Assassin) whom he is forced to kidnap. Shamed by the piffling ransom demand she commits suicide by hurling herself into Shanghai's Suzhou river. Years later, Mardar stumbles across the beguiling Meimei in the Happy Tavern, a neon Mecca to boozy hedonism. Meimei is a mixture of coquettish confidence and vulnerability; more pressingly, she's a dead ringer for the apparently dead Moudan. Cue obsession, deceit, overt voyeurism and psychological combat.
		Cue obsession, deceit, overt voyeurism and psychological combat.

Suzhou River meandered around the festival circuit collecting a raft of awards which carried Lou Ye to the forefront of China's 'Sixth Generation'. This group of filmmakers eschews the traditional Chinese approach to cinema and instead focuses on current social issues such as urban crime and the complexities of modern relationships.

The Sixth Generation also borrow heavily from American and European directors, and Suzhou River has drawn comparisons with Hitchcock's Vertigo with Jörg Lemberg's lavish score - cheekily borrowing from Bernard Hermann - further emphasising the thematic similarities. However, a heavy noir feel permeates the piece and it contains more than a few nods towards Wong Kar-wai's lush visual style.

The reality of the cityscape is cleverly contrasted with the artificiality of relationships to create a work which is both haunting and elusive, yet at times as 'real' as a documentary. Zhou Xun completely captivates and watch out for the one of the film's producers, Nai An, as Mada. A strong, startling denouement concludes the journey through Lou Ye's Shanghai.

Gavin Collinson