Chinese film evening, 7/02/2017: In Love We Trust 左右 (2008)

Screening notes, In Love We Trust

Mei Zhu and Xiao Lu divorced after giving birth to a daughter, Hehe. Now they are both happily remarried: Zhu to a simple man who loves her tenderly and Lu to an air-hostess much younger than he is. Hehe has just been diagnosed with leukemia. Chemotherapy is not working, and she needs a bone marrow transplant. Since neither of the parents is suitable as a donor, the bone marrow should come from a sibling. Unsuccessful attempts at artificial insemination convince Mei Zhu that the only solution is to sleep with Xiao Lu for one last time. Ethical issues that are evoked by this film include the social problems generated by the one-child policy; giving birth to a child to save the life of another; the limits of family responsibilities in the care of its members.

Wang Xiaoshuai (Beijing Bicycle 2001; Shanghai Dreams, 2005) is well known to Western film audiences and has been awarded many foreign prizes. He is one of the most important members of the Sixth Generation of Chinese film directors, who, although through different cinematic styles and languages, share an interest in the present and future of China, in urban lives and in the problems of adjusting to major changes after the advent of the post-1980s economy.

In Love We Trust won the Silver Bear for best screenplay at the 2008 Berlin film festival.