Weekend Plot

Unlike many other young Chinese directors, who elect for a harsh, neorealistic mood, in his second film, Zhang Ming creates a very different atmosphere: more Antonioni than Rossellini. Just as in his début Rainclouds over Wushan, in Weekend Plot Zhang used beautiful locations on the banks of the Yangzhe River. In a very subtle way, Zhang investigates the vague despair and uneasy feeling of life that is hidden under the surface of a new generation of Chinese. The young cast beautifully portrays that new China of consumers who are in search of pleasure, just like their western counterparts.Five friends who live in Beijing go to spend a summer weekend in a place on the banks of the Yangzhe, near the home town of two of them. Yudong, who was their classmate at secondary school, still lives in the town and is now a policeman. The arrival of Jin Xiaobei, his great love at school, evokes mixed feelings with him. To the displeasure of his wife, he joins the group of friends. When they find a dressmaker’s dummy in the river with a mysterious note, their relationships get more complicated and irritations start to arise. It’s the start of a series of mysterious events.