Buyi Zi Le

The film tells the story of a few inhabitants of the city of Shanxi, in Northern China. One of them is an old thief who, like an ancient warrior, talks about 20 years of suffering, injustice inflicted by the local government, and going with prostitutes. He is accompanied by a girl, a young man, a few women and an old man, and they experience the joys and pains of daily life and share local traditions and Buddhism. This is the true image of life in China.

“A saying from classical China remembers that: ‘The bird flies away but an arrow can bring it down; the hare runs away and the dog that follows its traces will – in turn – be captured. The enemies of the nation declare war but even the courageous warrior must die.’ What happened in ancient times continues to happen and, even if thousands of years have passed, nothing has really changed.” (Xia Peng)