Shower (film)
Shower | |
---|---|
Imar Film | |
Distributed by | Sony Pictures Classics (United States) |
Release dates | 14 September 1999(TIFF) 6 November 1999 |
Running time | 92 minutes |
Country | China |
Language | Mandarin Chinese |
Budget | $350,000 |
Shower (
Written by Zhang and a team of young scriptwriters, the film revolves around a family-run
Plot
An aged father known to everyone as Old Liu (played by
One day, Old Liu's elder son Liu Daming (Pu Cunxin), who left many years ago to seek fortunes in the southern city of Shenzhen, abruptly returns home. Now a successful businessman, Daming had received a postcard from Erming with a drawing of their father lying in bed. Thinking that his father has died, Daming rushed home, only to find it a misunderstanding. However, the father-son ties between Old Liu and Daming appear to be strained, and Daming plans to return to Shenzhen three days later.
When Erming accompanies Daming downtown to reserve a plane ticket, Erming mindlessly wanders off from the area and is nowhere to be seen. After a futile search, Daming returns home to his distressed father, who lashes out at him for not being able to take care of his younger brother. Old Liu laments that having already lost one son (referring to Daming), he cannot afford to lose the other. The next morning, however, Erming is able to find his own way home, to the relief of everyone. Having already postponed his flight, Daming decides to stay one more night.
It rains heavily overnight. While up on the roof fixing leaks, Old Liu catches a cold and falls sick the next morning. Daming volunteers to take over the work in the bathhouse, delaying his return once more. In the next few days, Daming stays on to help in the bathhouse. He even joins in the daily evening jog with his father and Erming. One evening, after coming back from jogging, Old Liu passes away peacefully whilst bathing in the bathtub.
Erming refuses to accept the reality of his father's death and insists on opening the bathhouse every day at the usual time. In the meantime, Daming is planning to bring Erming back to Shenzhen to live with him, but he is worried about his wife's reaction regarding the mentally challenged Erming. He decides to leave Erming in a mental hospital for a couple of weeks whilst he goes back to Shenzhen to make preparations. This is not received well by Erming, however, as he struggles to cope at the mental hospital after fighting with the hospital attendants. In response to the situation, Daming decides to bring Erming back to the bathhouse again and temporarily resume operations.
Meanwhile, the entire district is due to be demolished to make way for commercial development. As removalists begin to move old furniture out of the bathhouse, Erming furiously attempts to stop the removalists from moving out the furniture in an attempt to keep the bathhouse. Eventually, he is convinced by Daming to accept the reality of the situation. The film concludes with a group of old customers gathering in the bathhouse for the last time, removing old paintings and portraits from the walls. Simultaneously, Erming begins nostalgically singing the tune of
Cast
- Zhu Xu as Old Liu, owner and manager of a traditional bathhouse in Beijing, father to Daming and Erming
- Pu Cunxin as Liu Daming, elder son of Old Liu, left for Shenzhen many years ago
- mentally challengedson of Old Liu, helper in the bathhouse
Production
Shower was shot on a budget mostly in
Reception
Having wrapped up in late May 1999, producer
Awards and nominations
- Toronto International Film Festival, 1999
- International Critics' Award (Fipresci Prize)
- San Sebastian Film Festival, 1999
- Best Director Ecumenical Award
- Thessaloniki Film Festival, 1999
- Golden Alexander Award
- Seattle International Film Festival, 2000
- Golden Space Needle Award
- Best Director
- Rotterdam International Film Festival, 2000
- Audience Award
- Satellite Awards, 2001
- Golden Satellite Award (nominated)
- Hong Kong Film Awards, 2002
- Best Asian Film (nominated)
DVD release
A DVD featuring subtitles in
References
- Unknown (1999-11-05). "Men in Towels". Beijing Scene. 6 (4). Archived from the original on February 23, 2007. Retrieved 2007-03-25.
External links
- Shower at IMDb
- Shower at AllMovie
- Shower at Rotten Tomatoes
- Shower at Metacritic
- Shower at Box Office Mojo