Prize awarded artmovie drama and crime story playing out with the Suzhou river
as the background, with the great Zhou Xun and the talented Jia Hongsheng.
A Neo Noir inspired by Alfred Hitchcock's "Vertigo".

"Suzhou River" - the filthiest river says the narrator in this film and he uses his
camera to experience the river and the people making their living there. Once he
saw a mermaid there, sitting on a muddy bank combing her golden hair.

Our narrator is a videographer filming whatever his customers want, and one
day he's hired to shoot a Mermaid show at the nightclub The Happy Tavern.
Meimei (Zhou Xun) works there and they become a couple, sort of, as she
constantly leaves and returns.

Mardar (Jia Hongsheng) works as a delivery guy and bootlegs DVD films.
And, here the narrator shifts from his own story to the story of Mardar,
where he gets involved with a kidnapping for ransom money. He meets a
girl, Moudan who also disappears. Two mystery girls.

Film presented in 1.78:1 widescreen with mandarin DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio
Extras: Tony Rayns film critic (33 minutes, january 2024),
In Shanghai: Portrait of Shanghai by director Lou Ye (16 minutes, 2001, a
trailer and a Booklet. 3 000 copies limited edition