Suzhou River

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A Critical Review of Suzhou River
Suzhou River depicts a love story directed by Lou Ye and produced by Philippe Bober and Nai An. The plot illustrates a love story centered on the famous Chinese river, the Suzhou River. Two individuals, a motorbike courier and the daughter of a business man, met when the former is hired to take the girl to her aunt. Mardar (Jia Honsheng) and Moudan (Zhou Xun) separate after a kidnapping incidence that pushes her to jump into the river. Mardar returns after imprisonment looking for his lost love but finds a doppelganger of Moudan, Meimei. They get close, but he ends up leaving to look for the real girl. The videographer gives a subjective view of the river, talking about the lives made and destroyed in the river. The technical and social settings of the film reveal some challenges faced people in the modern age. Despite the obvious and intriguing romance, Suzhou River touches on effects of globalization such as capitalism, pollution, longs hours of work, crime, and moral degradation. In fact, the story captures the recurring thirst for emotional and financial satisfaction common in the contemporary world.
The first scene introduces a narrator and/or videographer who talks about the river and its effects to the people around. His perspective of the river reveals an essential yet destructive force of natureCITATION LuH10 p 119-120 l 1033 (Lu 119-120). Families and couples met and grow as the river moves like a vein inside the city reflecting all the activities taking place.

A good example is a filth found within and without the river. Pollution from homes and nearby factories flow into the river and negatively impacts the scenery. Strangely enough, the narrator is never seen and suggests that he would represent the audience. He falls in love with a girl, Meimei, as a way of creating some emotional link with the viewers. The subjective use of the cameras under the influence of the narrator suggests that the director added a theatrical element aimed at improving the monolog. The river is a symbol of the effects of globalization and industrialization in a modern country such as China. Some effects as stated by the narrator are the growth of families, romance, tragic death, and at times, loneliness. The short-lived relationship with Meimei digresses to the ripple effect of economic and social suppression. The girl wanted a love story similar to Moudan and decided to escape with the hope of reuniting with her true love once again. Societal expectations of quick money and comfortable life promote outrageous plans that manifest into criminal activities and alienation.
Globalization as a step to fulfillment is prominent in the film as would be expected in any modern society. A quick glance on the script reveals a strong adaptation of western culture and values. The mermaid story iterates the theme by comparing the women to mermaids. Chinese culture has no or little reverence for mermaids but Lou adds it for commercial reasons. In fact, the duality of the characters played Zhou Xun propagates the idea of intercultural themes to greater heights. Moudan had a doll of mermaid before her alleged death while Meimei is introduced as a mermaid dancer in a bar. The first girl represents the ideal modern country which every person hopes; an intelligent, civilized entity with the right amount of conservative views about life. A country with ethics aimed at balancing traditional and modern views of socioeconomic trends. Moudan comes off as the ultimate goal for Mardar. He finds a girl who has the physical attributes of his love, but the character is dissimilar. The second girl, Meimei, represents the world which intrinsically modified by corruption and capitalism but manages to maintain the same outward look as before. Symbolically, Lou questions the audience about the dilemma of living in a modern world where external forces push them into opposite sides. The fact that Moudan and Meimei decided to search for true love implies that he wants the viewers to search deep into their hearts and soul.
Another social vice highlighted in the movie is addiction fueled by the urge for emotional and financial gratification. Suzhou River is a contaminated resource which feds millions and kills just as many. Characters from the movie are as deteriorated as the color and contents of the water. First of all, the story exhibits voyeurism of the narrator who loves taking videos. He comes off as a pervert seeking to capture all the explicit aspect of shanghai and in retrospect, China and the whole world. The father of Moudan is a businessman dealing with alcohol, an obvious addiction for most characters in the film. His success is a clear sign that people have a problem with alcohol. In addition, the Happy Tavern flourished because people came in large numbers to drink. These two businessmen enjoy financial satisfaction because ordinary men and women use alcohol to fill emotional vacuums. Love is another form of addiction in the story because Moudan wished to die rather than face the betrayal while Mardar spent most of his time searching for his lost love. In the end, Mardar’s addiction to his motorbike leaves them dead after riding while drunk. In essence, the different depictions of addiction elaborate the social effects of globalization. An interesting cinematic element of the film is the low lighting. Even in broad daylight, there is a pale camera effect which is almost black and white. The gloomy atmosphere compels the audience on the central theme of globalization and the price paid by China in its endeavor to prosper. The old building and filth-infested streets are contrasted by tall bright towers in the horizon. Lou must have shot the scenes in the ‘ghetto’ areas of Shanghai as a historical remainder of the cost of urbanization.
According to Lu in his analysis of Suzhou River, the fluidity of the characters is a second indication of the cultural degradation created by urbanization (122-123). The only person who viewers can describe with at least three facts about their family is Moudan. Her parents divorced when she was a young girl. The father is a prominent businessman who enjoys alcohol and women. Moudan has an aunt who loves and appreciates her company. The rest have no background information and viewers develop a sense of connection as the film progresses. An introduction to Mardar explains that he dropped out of school and started to hang out with friends. The narrator explains the story from there without any other flashback. Meimei, doppelganger, becomes an object of interest and the narrator together with Mardar conclude that she is not Moudan without using any family tree reference. A normal western story would have taken the time to explore genetics as a basis for disapproval but Lou introduces the fact, and the story continues. If the strong resemblance is because Moudan had a twin sister separated at an early age or some other bizarre coincidence, the audience will never know. Finally, the narrator becomes the most mysterious addition to the movie; the story follows his understanding of the situation up to the end. However, the viewers are left to wonder how he looked and where he came from. The first assumption would be that the narrator was the eyes of the film and thus, worked to create an intimate involvement between the participants and the audience. Nevertheless, those are simply suppositions with little or no basis whatsoever. Fundamentally, Lou includes loss of cultural heritage as a side effect of globalization and capitalism.
On the other hand, the modern quest for emotional and financial gratification promotes independence and hard workCITATION LuH10 p 122 l 1033 (Lu 122). All the main characters from the film enjoy financial freedom as a requisite product of employment. The young Moudan depended on her father for upkeep and other things, but she is a sales clerk at a shop as an adult. She tries to sell buffalo grass vodka to Mardar which captures their second encounter. Mardar works as a motorbike courier along with other hidden dealings. The narrator mentions that there are numerous courier services in Shanghai. He shows videos of fisherman and other workers along the banks of the river working in different capacities. Mardar returns to his previous job after jail term with minimal friction which means that jobs are easy to find. Meimei appears to be an independent woman without any need for ‘extras’ as she tells Mardar when he follows her home. Her role as a mermaid is enough to cater for her basic needs. The narrator works as a videographer for hire as portrayed by his constant adverts on the walls of buildings. In effect, he meets Meimei when the owner of Happy Tavern calls him for a job. The owner wanted to showcase the mermaid for promotional purposes. Expansion of employment opportunities through entrepreneurship and other innovative techniques are advantages of urbanization. The thirst for financial stability has improved the individual living standards of most people in the modern world. Consumerism allows people to observe a business gap and develop strategies based on the basics of demand and supply. In this perspective, globalization and capitalism are necessary tools for development.
Clode in his review of the film identifies psychological disorders as an ever-growing social problem in the 21st century. The acts performed by Moudan, Mardar and Meimei appear unreasonable from a logical basis. Moudan jumps into a germ-infested river because of anger and disappointment caused by his lover. Mardar searches for the girl for the rest of his life and ends up dying with her shortly after meeting. Meimei runs away from the love of his life because she wants to feel special. All these acts are a strong indication of mental and emotional instability. People say that love is illogical and they may be right. Lou portrays the narrator as a lonely man who finds it difficult to interact with others. He finds it strange that Meimei goes out and disappears into the crowd of people outside his apartment. It happens that the videographer spends so much time viewing the world through his lens that he forgets to develop interpersonal communication skills. The same habit which made him an exceptional videographer also ruined his social skills. Meimei shows some form of identity crisis. She knows in her heart that she is not Moudan. Nonetheless, she tries to mimic what she learns about the girl. For example, she places a fake tattoo of a flower on her left leg for Mardar. The final act of disappearance shocks her boyfriend, the narrator; she runs away expecting him to follow like a love story. These are cases illustrating the effects of social media and other tech-related trends on young people. Perfectionism places pressure on the mental faculty and ruins intra- and interpersonal relations.
Conclusively, the film was educational and entertaining at the same time. Lou managed to capture the attention of viewers from in almost genres through the inclusion of drama, horror, romance, thrill, and inspirational acts. First of all, the river was a societal analogy of the deterioration of the environment and cultural heritage as a result of globalization. The duality of Zhou Xun as Moudan and Meimei explored the expected result of urbanization and the reality at hand respectively. The quest for gratification occurs in various instances throughout the film. First, Mardar searches until he finds his lost love while Meimei decides to leaves in search for truth. Regardless of all the negative effects of globalization such as loss of cultural heritage, pollution, capitalism, and criminal activities, the director credits modernization for increased employment opportunities. The four main characters have jobs which cater for their needs on a daily basis. Even so, the thirst for emotional and physical gratification resulted in social and economic mishaps that people should analyze on a daily basis.

Works Cited
BIBLIOGRAPHY l 1033 Clode, Jerry. “Suzhou River.” 7 March 2002. Intersections: Gender, History and Culture in the Asian. 4 December 2016 <intersections.anu.edu.au/issue7/clode_review.html>.
Lu, Hongwei. “Shanghai and Globalization through the Lens of Film Noir: Lou Ye’s 2000 Film, Suzhou River.” ASIA Network Exchange- University of Redlands (2010): 116-127.
Suzhou River. Dir. Lou Ye. Perf. Zhou Xun and Jia Hongsheng. 2000.