Lake August

After his father commits suicide by drunkenly jumping off a boat and his girlfriend announces she is marrying another man, Ah Li is left alone. Not much changes in his life. His primary activities are smoking and drinking beer; occasionally he watches some porn.
Looking for diversion, he visits a boarding house on a lake. There he meets his old class-mate Monkey and the man’s mistress Ah Fang. The two quarrel a lot because Monkey won’t leave his wife. Monkey departs and Ah Li and Ah Fang are left to keep each other company.
Yang Heng’s films are a kind of antidote to the high speed of modern, big-city Chinese life. Time still passes at a languid tempo in the expanse of the Chinese hinterland, as in the Hunan region where he was born and where he not only shot Lake August, but also his features Betelnut and Sun Spots (IFFR Tiger Awards Competition 2010). The beautiful landscape urges tranquillity. Ah Li finds his feet here gradually but also occasionally with surprising abruptness.

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