Men and Woman

China 1999

Poster and details cduniverse

Seen 4 October 2007

The film begins showing a scene of a man broadcasting his own private radio show – The Toilet Times. That in itself, is a good start for me. Toilet humour, maybe.

But the next scene shows a young man arriving in the big city looking for a job. A kind hearted shopkeeper takes him and even lets him stay at her place she shares with her husband. This lady is the rare big hearted woman who tries to help the young man make something out of his life. She even tries to introduce him to a girl in the hope that friendship and romance will blossom.

Unfortunately that scheme did not work according to plan. Instead, there are even some doubts that the young man is even interested in girls. This leads to complications in the relationship between the young man and his benefactor. He moved out of the house and seeks shelter at another friend's place.

The later scenes show how the toilet humor is inter-related to the main story and there is a nice twist to the relationship combinations. The final scene itself seems to be a summary of human relationships as well as a sly commentary on the state of the nation.

Satisfying look at normal lives with an added twist. Do not expect explicit bedroom scenes.