Green Hat

Plot

Wang Yao (Liao Fan) is a criminal. Along with two friends, he prepares one last heist with the plan that he will head to the United States afterward for a reunion with a girlfriend he has not seen in two years. After the successful robbery of a bank, Wang stops at a small grocery store to call his girlfriend, who ceremoniously dumps him. Distraught, Wang takes the grocery store's proprietor hostage when she demands payment for the long-distance phone call. When the police arrives, one of their number (Li Congxi) offers to take the place of the hostage. Wang agrees, and then promptly commits suicide after asking the shocked officer, "What is love?"

The film then shifts its attention to the police officer, who now begins to face the fact that his wife (Li Mei) has been carrying on an affair with a swimming coach (Hai Yitian). Struggling from sexual inadequacy and humiliation, the officer decides to confront his wife and her lover.

Reception

Green Hat was screened at numerous international film festivals including Tribeca, Seattle, and Thessaloniki.

Western critics were generally positive in their reaction to the film, with the film winning a Best Narrative Feature from Tribeca, and FIPRESCI awarding a best film award to it at the Thessaloniki Film Festival, These critics, such as Variety's Derek Elley, found the film to be a strong debut by Liu and praised the film's visual compositions and unusual sexual frankness.