Suzhou River

An intriguing neo-noir tale by Lou Ye, with Shanghai’s Suzhou River as its dramatic backbone. A story of a lover who throws herself into the river, only to return as a nightclub dancer. A nocturnal portrait of an old metropolis, captured in gritty images. Newly restored in 4K. Flowing silently through one of China’s oldest cities, the Suzhou River bears witness to everything that unfolds along and upon its banks. It is a repository of filth, chaos and poverty, but also a vessel for memories and secrets, as director Lou Ye so vividly understands. He grew up in Shanghai, spending his youth along the banks of the Suzhou River. In the film, we follow young motorcycle courier Marda as he criss-crosses Shanghai delivering various parcels. He never asks what they contain, nor does he question an assignment to escort Moudan, the sixteen-year-old daughter of a vodka smuggler, to her aunt.

Something tender develops between Marda and Moudan—until Moudan comes to believe that Marda has kidnapped her for ransom. Deeply disillusioned, she jumps from a bridge into the Suzhou River. Years later, after serving a prison sentence, the former courier becomes convinced that Moudan is still alive, now living as the sensual nightclub dancer Meimei. Suzhou River is a chronicle of obsession, inspired by Hitchcock’s Vertigo, in which James Stewart searches for his dead beloved. At the same time, the film is constructed as a frame narrative, seen through the eyes of an anonymous videographer and accompanied by voice-over narration. The handheld camerawork is restless and immersive, drawing the viewer into the shadowy nocturnal side of the metropolis.

Winner of the Tiger Award at the International Film Festival Rotterdam in 2000. The 4K restoration was created from the original 16mm A/B picture negative, sourced from the Kopierwerk Babelsberg laboratory and supervised by director Lou Ye. Lou Ye (1965) grew up in Shanghai and studied at the Beijing Film Academy. His first feature film, Weekend Lover(1993), received the Rainer Werner Fassbinder Prize (Best Screenplay) at the International Film Festival Mannheim–Heidelberg. Ye gained international recognition in 2000 with Suzhou River. Like the later Summer Palace, the film was banned by Chinese authorities; its screening at IFFR had taken place without official approval. After the premiere of Summer Palace, Ye continued to make films clandestinely or (at times) abroad, including festival titles such as Spring Fever (2009), Love and Bruises (2011), Mystery (2012), Saturday Fiction (2019) and An Unfinished Film (2024).