Synopsis

Guixiang is an energetic young woman from the provinces living in Beijing with her never-do-well husband, Changgeng. She sells bootleg CDs and DVDs on the street, while he gambles. During an argument over a game of mahjong, Changgeng blinds a playing partner and lands in prison. Guixiang, burdened as well with an abandoned child, is sent back to her hometown by the authorities. Prospects are not good. At a theater, she explains, "I was in the opera," and asks for the director. She's told, "He's off to make money elsewhere."

She takes up with an old boyfriend (now married), the director of a funeral parlor, who offers her work as a professional mourner due to her distinctive and exuberant manner of crying. He explains that there are 23,000 inhabitants in the region, about 230 deaths a year. "I'll be your agent. I provide you with the dead." And she wails over them, these strangers, for money. Unhappily for the pair, as soon as they go into business there is not one death for ten days. While having sex one afternoon they hear a television report about the discovery of poisoned beef in the area. "We're back in business!"

Guixiang is still thinking of her husband, despite her lover's observation, "He's a loser. Let him stay in jail." She needs 10,000 yuan to secure his release. This means a great deal of crying. The rate board lists the various laments-"Earthquake," "Typhoon," "Infinite Echo" and so forth-and their prices. Her boy-friend explains, "Our business is to control each link in the death sector." Guixiang even mourns for a deceased dog.

She goes to the prison with only 5,000. Sex with a prison official takes care of the difference. However, shortly afterward her husband gets killed. Unfeeling officials pay her a visit and briefly explain the details. "Sign at the bottom of the page," they tell her. She has an assignment to lament the death of a local big-shot. Guixiang cries and cries, but for once her tears are for real, for her dead husband, for herself. The family of the departed is moved to tip her well. Her heartrending sobbing continues.

Film Festivals & Awards

Vancouver International Film Festival 2002

Director Bio

Cast & Crew

Technical Info