Keep Cool
Keep Cool is a 1997 Chinese black comedy directed by Zhang Yimou and adapted from the novel Evening Papers News by Shu Ping. The film, which is about a bookseller in love in 1990s Beijing, marked a move away from Zhang's earlier period pictures to a more realistic cinéma vérité-like era in his career that also saw him make Happy Times (2000) and Not One Less (1999). Keep Cool also marked only the third time Zhang placed his film in the modern era and the first time Zhang did not work with actress Gong Li.
Plot
The film is set in modern-day Beijing. It begins with bookseller Zhao Xiaoshuai who is following his ex-lover An Hong home, obviously after an unhappy and one-sided break-up. He tracks the fast-walking An Hong on a bus and later on a bicycle, until she reaches her flat and goes up to her apartment. There, Zhao gets a junk peddler and another peddler to call out her name and declare his undying love to her at the high-rise flats.
More details
author | Shu Ping |
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contentLocation | Beijing |
director | Zhang Yimou |
editor | Du Yuan |
genre | comedy-drama |
keywords | bicycle stand chef gag hospital karaoke laptop loudhailer make up middle age middle-aged mobile phone nightclub owner police chief police station restaurant owner seven days tie up trouble wait work out |
musicBy | Zang Tianshuo |
producer | Wang Qipeng Wang Wei Zhang Weiping |
publisher | Golem Distribución Spain |
recordedAt | Beijing |
theme | black comedy cinéma vérité |