Ｗｈｅｎ Ｗｅ Ｃｏｍｅ ｔｏ ａ Ｃｒｏｓｓｒｏａｄ：Ｉｎ Ｌｏｖｅ Ｗｅ Ｔｒｕｓｔ

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DIRECTOR Wang Xiaoshuai picked up his second Silver Bear award at the Berlin Film Festival last February for In Love We Trust. In 2001, Beijing Bicycle earned him the Grand Jury Silver Bear and the award for the Best Young Director, while this year he won for best screenplay.

The 42-year-old director is a regular guest at international film festivals since first coming into the public eye in Berlin in 1994 with his debut film, The Days. In 2005, he won the Prix of Jury at the Cannes film festival for Shanghai Dreams.

Unfortunately, Beijing Bicycle was never shown in China, although Shanghai Dreams earned RMB 5 million at the box office in 2005. “In this film, I wanted to tell a good story, just a good story,” Wang said, revealing that in order to tell that story, he watched the finished film over a hundred times in post-production, taking great pains to perfect it.

As a 1989 graduate of the Directing Department at the Beijing Film Academy, Wang began his career with experimental films. Like his college classmates, he enjoyed dispensing with narrative lines, dissociating stories, and fracturing the soundtrack and the composition of his scenes.

While his latest prizewinner seems far removed from his early work, Wang said that he was now trying to get closer to the “masses.” Charming stories and an unpretentious delivery are the hallmarks of his later films.

Films about the ethos of family life do not belong to a genre per se, but they are familiar to Chinese viewers. In Love We Trust, or Zuo You, which in Mandarin literally means “left and right,” is a story centered on an ethical dilemma. It addresses the problems and feelings of Chinas new middle class, and tells of how a middle-aged divorced couple, Mei Zhu and Xiao Lu, both now remarried, try to save their young daughter, who is suffering from leukemia, by having another child to act as a bone marrow donor.

It was the only film from the Chinese mainland competing this year in Berlin, where last years top Golden Bear award was won by Chinese film Tuyas Marriage.

The script was based on a true story, which Wang said he could not resist. But it was difficult to show every facet of the story to viewers. “Its harder for the actors or actresses,” Wang said. “Their performances must be just right. No less, no more.”

In the film, Xiao Lu has a reputation as a heartless man, abandoning his wife and turning to another woman. But the director said he did not want a stereotypical villain. In his mind, Xiao is a slave to love, obsessed with obtaining the affections of different women and prepared to sacrifice everything in that quest.

Zhang Jiayi delivers an impeccable performance as the divided Xiao with a convincing portrayal of his inner struggles and the instinctive humor he shows while suffering guilty torments.

Indeed, all the players project great feeling in their performances, a rarity in Chinese film lately. Liu Weiwei, who portrays Mei Zhu, fully demonstrates how love can become selfish and self-destructive, while at the same time conveying the dignity and desperation of a mother trying to save her child.

There is a thin line between goddess and shrew, but Liu manages to play that fine line with grace and believability. But on the whole, Wang has made a restrained film. When Liu once asked to play a scene more emotionally, Wang insisted she handle it in a measured tone. Under a slow, stable lens, the scenes are understated, and the characters never verge into hysteria.

As the French news agency AFP said, Wangs uncompromising reality and the considerate performance of the actors and actresses saved the film from emotionally bullying the audience. Amusingly, in Berlin a French journalist told Wang that sleeping with ones ex-husband would not be considered a problem in France. But the notion is still a challenge to Chinese social morals.

Nevertheless, Wangs empathetic approach manages to turn a seemingly farfetched premise into an acceptable story. Mei, after all, loves her little daughter so much, while Xiao, though weak in character, still has a sense of responsibility. He is willing to compromise because he loves his child and feels remorse toward his former wife. Once that is accepted, the story seems reasonable and believable to the audience.

For instance, the method of conceiving the child is a source of conflict. Artificial insemination is Meis first choice, but its failure three times in a row drives her to the crazy notion of actually having sex with Xiao. Following which the hero and heroin once again come to a crossroad – to tell their present partners or not. Xiao prefers the former, and his wife leaves him, while Mei chooses the latter, though her husband sees through the deception.

But the film has a happy though unresolved ending. Xiaos wife returns to him out of love, and Meis faithful husband Lao Xie tells her the newborn can use his surname.

The open ending leaves viewers with even more questions. Is Mei pregnant? How long will they need to live together? How many problems will the two families now face? Is love a sufficient reason for Xiaos wife and Lao Xie to witness the adultery of their partners? Is it fair to the newborn, who is, after all, being conceived in order to save another life?

Stepping into middle age, Wang said he has gradually turned from exploring teenage rebellion to trying to understand the mindset and feelings of middle age.

“The story fit my thoughts about a middle-age film,” Wang said. He believes that the middle-aged must bear up under a great deal of pressure – responsibilities, dilemmas and endurance in work and social relations, sacrifice for the aged, children and family. Trust, understanding, betrayal, lies are the inevitable problems they face.

“All the problems the characters in the film face are what I wanted to show the viewers,” he said – the feelings, sensibilities, ethics and morals that affect the way lifes decisions are made, and which reflect the struggles of ordinary people.

But Wang has created a balanced film, and Xiao and Meis intelligence and forgiveness leave audiences with empathy for them as they begin to understand their sorrow.

“Fate is difficult to control,” Wang said, “but mankind should face its problems squarely, even the disasters, and search for the key. Love is just that key.” In the end, Wang believes there is no simple option like “left” or “right ” where love is concerned. “A real man must trust love, regardless of the price, without hesitation.”

In Love We Trust was the name Wang chose for the films international release, and it encapsulates what the director wanted to say – no matter what, trust love.

While his latest prizewinner seems far removed from his early work, Wang said that he was now trying to get closer to the “masses.”

“Fate is difficult to control,” Wang said, “but mankind should face its problems squarely, even the disasters, and search for the key. Love is just that key.”