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First filmic effort from novelist Zhu Wen was certainly, as the BIFF program states, “pushing the boundaries of film form and challenging the conventional norms of cinema”, however I found it a little too boundary-pushing and unconventional for my tastes as I struggled to find things to like. Beijing prostitute Zhang Xiaomei arrives in sleepy, off-season holiday destination Beidaihe and books into a hotel room with the intention of killing herself. As it turns out, she’s not the first, and … (read more)