Yang Fan lives in Yanjiao, which is separated from Beijing by the White River, during the quarantine. Her routine is pretty simple, cooking, cleaning and trying to abide by the rules. Her husband on the other hand, seems to be entangled in a voyeuristic/masturbatory web, where a classic painting of a woman hanging on the wall of her bedroom plays a crucial role. The two of them have sex, but things become more complicated when Yang Fan also starts sleeping with the enigmatic waiter of a restaurant she frequents, who has the tendency to pee under a tree every night after he closes shop. Instead of fighting, the three embark on a threesome trip that soon starts involving other people.
A father who cannot cure his own stubborn illness, a professor mother who struggles with existential questions, a son who is confused and precocious, a giant tortoise that suddenly leaves, and a sentimental grandfather who passed away. The uncle cannot finish reading THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA. The aunt won't get married. The grandfather is his own daughter's enemy. The uncle does not want to return from the Philippines. And an unborn child. Summer goes, and autumn comes. Things remain, but people change.
Love can be bitter, sweet, or spicy. The film revolves around three couples from Beijing, Hangzhou and Chongqing.
A wealthy Hong Kong housewife, Anna, lives a spoiled, bored life. When her husband suddenly leaves, taking the money and prestige with him, she refuses to accept her changed circumstances. Her chauffeur, Fai, who lives in an ugly barrack across the border in Shenzhen, is trying to get his wife—whose second pregnancy is a violation of the Chinese one-child policy—over the border so she can give birth in Hong Kong.
Made for the Venice Film Festival's 70th anniversary, seventy filmmakers made a short film between 60 and 90 seconds long on their interpretation of the future of cinema.
Sonq Shiqiao (Angelababy), 22, lives with her devoted mother, widowed shop owner Zheng Qing (Jiang Shan). Shiqiao, who always dreamed of being a ballet dancer, cannot exert herself physically as she suffers from form of myasthenia, a neuromuscular disease, that her father died of; the medication she takes also causes memory lapses. One day, at a charity fair, she bumps into Gong Ning (Mark Chao), a former high-school friend she always liked, and the two end up dating, despite the initial disapproval of her mother. Gong Ning dropped out of university to spend more time with a rock band he leads; also, his girlfriend, dancer Peng Wei (Cindy Yen), has dumped him because of his inability to focus his life. However, for Shiqiao, Gong Ning is the perfect partner.
A young Chinese Go board game player arrives in Japan for training. He doesn't speak Japanese and becomes embarrassed living there. By dropping his Go stones, he happens to meet an old Japanese woman who sells vegetables on the street. They become familiar with each other. The young Chinese Go player, the old woman named Igarashi and her grandson Shoichi then live together.
The film was originally named as “Ran Qing Shi Jie Bei” (The Legend of World Cup), but director Xiao Jiang changed the name when the famous octopus in Germany named Paul became a global sensation when he correctly predicted the outcome of all Germany games in the recent football World Cup as well as the result of the World Cup final. “We planned several topics to shoot about, like black horses, prediction results, gambling, misjudges, terrorism and football hooligans. And we chose to shoot the prediction results when the amazing prophet Paul appeared,” said Xiao Jiang. Xiao Jiang said they have sent invitations to the aquarium in Germany inviting Paul to attend the film premiere in China. The octopus appearing in this film is an ‘actor’ who looks similar to Paul.
Throughout ten years of a key era in Chinese and Hong Kong history, a girl becomes fixated on a fellow commuter who she observes regularly. While the two never speak to one another, the girl captures her appearance and life changes during the years through various means such as photos and drawings.
A country schoolteacher reaching retirement comes to Wuhan in search of his only son. His dying wife has requested to see her boy one last time. He is met by his daughter Yanhong who works as an escort in a karaoke bar. Yanhong introduces him to a policeman who sympathizes with his plight and agrees to help him to find his son.
When the leading dancer of Lola is murdered in her dressing room on the very night of the premiere, terror looms over the dance troupe. With the murderer still at large, the coveted role of Lola passes to Tian, a talented but introverted dancer with a traumatic childhood. Suspicion fanned by jealousy soon leads to hostility and rejection from fellow dancers, while figments of childhood memories start haunting her every dream. Tian can only seek solace in the arms of her gaffer boyfriend Zhen. As the murderer strikes again, Tian begins to realize that all the slayings are somehow related to her. No sooner is she inextricably sucked into the curse of the role than she starts suspecting Zhen may actually be harboring a horrifying secret behind these murders and the troupe itself.
Flavia is a thirtysomething married teacher. She has suppressed the memory of her adolescent lesbian fling with Jin and is stuck in a stifling marriage. A chance encounter in a supermarket with the playful and seductive singer Yip reawakens dormant feelings and she begins to think back on her teenage affair with Jin.