Streetwise

Set in 2004 in Zhenwu, one of the many small towns in the Sichuan province where the young people who remain are those who could not leave. A gritty portrait of a group of outcasts in a fading riverside town as they come to terms with life’s uneasy lot.

With his father requiring costly and continual hospital treatment due to complications brought on by long term alcoholism, aimless youth Dongzi (Li Jiuxiao) ends up working as a debt collector for the local mafia. Further complicating things, Dongzi is in love with the boss’s wife (Huang Miyi), a troubled tattoo parlor owner who dreams of divorcing her husband and fleeing Zhenwu.

Breathtaking and unforgettable, this largely nocturnal neo-noir embraces a woozily romantic ambience, heightened by the alluring glow of neon signage, recalling the mood of Lou Ye's masterpiece Suzhou River.