Mao Mao as Chen. Photo by Bai Xiaoyan, Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.
Also Starring:
- Ni Dahong
- Cheng Ye
- Mao Mao
Screenwriter:
- Xu Zhengchao
- Shi Jianquan
- Zhang Weiping
- Bill Kong
- Gu Hao
- Zhang Zhenyan
Production Designer:
Editor:
Music:
Distributor:
* Most external filmography links go to The Internet Movie Database.
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A Woman, a Gun and a Noodle Shop (2009/2010)
Also Known As: A Simple Noodle Story
Opened: 09/03/2010 Limited
| Limited | 09/03/2010 | |
| Laemmle's Play... | 09/03/2010 - 09/23/2010 | 21 days |
| Sunshine Cinema | 09/03/2010 - 09/16/2010 | 14 days |
| Laemmle's Town... | 09/17/2010 - 09/23/2010 | 7 days |
| Sunset 5/LA | 09/17/2010 - 09/23/2010 | 7 days |
| Quad Cinema/NYC | 09/17/2010 - 09/23/2010 | 7 days |
| DVD | 02/01/2011 |
Trailer: Click for trailer
Genre: Chinese Drama
Rated: Unrated
Short Synopsis
A WOMAN, A GUN AND A NOODLE SHOP is a remake of the 1985 directorial debut of Joel and Ethan Coen, BLOOD SIMPLE. Transposing the Coen Brother's celebrated mix of dark humor and riveting suspense to China, the film is helmed by Zhang Yimou (director of THE RED SORGHUM, TO LIVE, HERO, HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS and other masterpieces), one of the most eminent directors of the "Fifth Generation". This black comedy thriller is an exposé of how intense desires can consume humanity, and the irony that life never submits to our calculations.
Wang is a miserable yet cunning noodle shop owner in a desert town in China. Feeling neglected, Wang's wife secretly goes out with Li, one of his employees. A timid man, Li reluctantly keeps the gun the landlady bought for 'killing her husband later'. However, not a single move they make escapes the boss's notice, and he decides to bribe patrol officer Zhang to kill the illicit couple. It looks like a perfect plan: the affair will come to a cruel but satisfying end... or so he thinks, but the equally wicked Zhang has an agenda of his own that will lead to even more violence...
Long Synopsis
In a small desert town near Jiayu Pass in China (the first pass at the west end of the Great Wall), Wang owns a noodle shop where he, his wife and his employees also live. Not exactly a loving boss, he spends every penny to his own advantage, owing his workers their wages for months.
Miserable from suffering with Wang's dark temper and abuse, his wife has an affair with Li, who can spin round sheets of noodle dough nimbly but never shows the same confidence outside the kitchen. Every time Li drives her to buy rouge, the two have sex in the carriage. One day, to Li's dismay, she purchases a gun from a Persian merchant, claiming that only Wang's death can guarantee their happiness. Never a match for her biting wit and tongue, Li agrees to hide the weapon.
Meanwhile, waiter Zhao and patrol officer Zhang -- both bribed by the cunning Wang -- inform him of the gun and the affair respectively. After catching her wife red-handed and grappling with her during one of her rouge trips, Wang resorts to paying Zhang to kill the illicit lovers.
The day after, Zhang returns with a blood-stained piece of clothing and fiercely pierced woman's underwear. In his client's secret chamber, Zhang waits for his reward and, all of a sudden, shoots Wang with Li's gun he found earlier. As Wang lies completely motionless, Zhang struggles to open the safe but fails. Outside, Zhao and waitress Chen are arguing about whether they should sneak in and 'steal' their wages from the safe. As the door squeaks and a ray of light seeps through the crack, Zhang loses his nerve and escapes through the window, leaving the gun behind... Will someone discover Wang's body? What will be done with his money? Who will lay hands on the gun? Nobody can say for sure because everyone is either silently plotting or plotted against...
