Zhou Zenong is a small-time gang leader that has just been released from prison after serving a five-year sentence. Almost immediately afterward, he attends a crime syndicate meeting where a disagreement of territory has a Disaster Dominoes effect and leads to Zenong on the run from the cops.
Realizing his number is up, he wants to ensure the bounty on his head goes to his wife and son. Enter Liu Ai’ai, a “bathing beauty”, who is tasked with the job of turning in Zenong. Of course, it’s not as simple as marching into a police precinct...
This film provides examples of:
- Disaster Dominoes: Because Cat’s Eye and Cat’s Ear wanted Xingye Road as their territory, Redhead loses his cool and shoots Cat’s Ear, which prompts an all-out brawl, which has the syndicate leader having to make it right via a motorbike theft competition. Cat’s Eye sets up a trap for Redhead that leads to his decapitation in front of Zenong, who is then shot by Cat’s Eye. His injuries (and the rainstorm) block his vision, which leads to Zenong killing a cop and him being on the run. This series of unfortunate events comes around and results in the deaths of both Cat’s Eye and Cat’s Ear.
- Film Noir: Ticks off all the marks, down to the cigarette-smoking Femme Fatale and near-constant rainstorms (to be fair, it’s set mid-summer in Wuhan).
- Foregone Conclusion
- Grey-and-Gray Morality: To be expected in a film about low-level gangsters and an unhappy prostitute.
- How We Got Here: The first half of the film is Zenong and Ai’ai both recalling the events that lead up to their meeting at the train station.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Cat’s Ear is impaled by an umbrella that opens on the other side to conveniently catch the blood spray
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Instead of trying to escape Wuhan with his life and freedom intact and potentially making life difficult for the wife and son he abandoned, Zenong hatches a plan to make sure his capture benefits his family by securing the bounty on his head goes to them.
- No Honor Among Thieves: Once that 300,000RMB bounty is announced, Zenong’s associates and enemies alike vie for the prize.
- Off with His Head!: Redhead via a strategically placed forklift prong.
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Production Posse: Gwei Lun Mei and Lian Fan seem to be the start of this, having previously appeared in Black Coal, Thin Ice. - The Oldest Profession: Ai’ai is a lakeside prostitute known as a “bathing beauty.
