THE CONTINENT

SINGLE MANDARIN

JUDUL: THE CONTINENT

TAHUN: 2014

PEMAIN:

• Feng Shaofeng
• Bolin Chen
• Wallace Chung

SINOPSIS:

An island off the coast of China, a few years ago. Three friends live on a tiny island which is one of the farthest east in China: Hu Sheng (Gao Huayang), 24, who appears a little simple; Ma Haohan (William Feng), whose father disappeared in a typhoon in 1994 when he was 10 and who later bummed around the world; and Jiang He (Berlin Chen), an introverted geography teacher. Most people have left the island for economic reasons and, when Jiang He is reassigned to a school in the far west of China, Haohan has the idea of them driving him across country in a foreign car he's spent all his savings on. En route they first visit Zhou Mo (Joe Chen), a girl who was Hu Sheng's neighbour when younger, and Liu Yingying (Yolanda Yuan), a longtime penfriend of Haohan whom he's been waiting 18 years to meet. As a final act before leaving, Haohan sets fire to his own home, but accidentally blows up Hu Sheng's and Zhou Mo's as well. After taking a boat to the mainland, they visit Zhou Mo, who is working as a stand-in at a film studio and dreams of becoming an actress and TV presenter. She's friendly but offhand to them, wishing them well on their journey. She confesses to Haohan that she once had a crush on him but has now got over it; she all but ignores Hu Sheng who has brought her flowers. The three stay overnight at a cheap hotel where Jiang He is visited by a prostitute, Su Mi (May Wang); when the hotel is apparently raided by police, Jiang He and Haohan escape with her but in their panic forget about Hu Sheng. Next day, at a petrol station, a man (Jia Zhangke) and two of Su Mi's relatives (Bai Ke, Kong Lianshun) track them down, and they learn the truth about Su Mi's circumstances. Haohan and Jiang He drive off alone and later call the hotel to try to find Hu Sheng, but he's disappeared. They next visit Yingying who manages a billiard hall, and she tells Haohan the truth about his father and her own feelings towards him. Haohan and Jiang He keep driving westwards, and on the third day pick up a small dog and a lone traveller, A Lü (Wallace Chung), from Guangdong. Haohan takes a liking to A Lü, whom he sees as a kindred free spirit. But as the three near the westernmost border where Jiang has been reassigned, there are more surprises in store for him and Haohan.