The Donor

On his moped, Yang Ba travels every day from the grubby apartment he shares with his wife and son to the ramshackle tyre workshop where he tries to earn a living for his family. But having a child of student age is expensive and Yang’s finances are put under even more pressure when the municipality plans to demolish his neighbourhood. His distress puts him in touch with Li Daguo, who is looking for a kidney for his desperately ill sister.
In a drama of almost deceptive sobriety, Zang Qiwu makes his directing debut using a topical news item to provide a complex reflection on humanity in the capitalist era. It is telling that Li’s mediator, for instance, hides the purely commercial nature of the illegal transaction by inventing a distant family link. This helps paint a picture of a society in which not only a healthy life but even a clear conscience are reduced to tradeable commodities.