The Equation of Love and Death
6.6 /10 1 Votes
62% Rotten Tomatoes Genre Crime, Drama, Romance Music director Dou Wei, Xiao Di Bi Writer Baoping Cao Language Mandarin | 6.9/10 IMDb Director Cao Baoping Screenplay Cao Baoping Duration Country China | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Release date September 18, 2008 (2008-09-18) Initial release September 18, 2008 (China) Cast Zhou Xun (Li Mi), Deng Chao (Ma Bing), Zhang Hanyu (Ye Qing Chen), Wang Baoqiang (Qiu Shui Tian), Yanhui Wang (Qiu Huo Gui)Similar movies Zhou Xun appears in The Equation of Love and Death and Hollywood Hong Kong | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Equation of Love and Death (Chinese: 李米的猜想; pinyin: lǐ mǐ de cāi xiǎng; literally: "Li Mi's Supposition") is a 2008 Chinese dramatic film written and directed by Cao Baoping and starring Zhou Xun. The film is a Chinese (Huayi Brothers) and Hong Kong (Sundream Motion Pictures) co-production. It is Cao's second solo feature after 2006's Trouble Makers.
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The Equation of Love and Death premiered in China on September 18, 2008 in Shanghai and had its North American premiere at the 2008 Vancouver International Film Festival where it was part of the Dragons and Tigers side competition.
The Equation of Love and Death tells the story of Li Mi (played by Zhou Xun), a Kunming cab driver who longs for the day she can be reunited with her missing boyfriend. After a case of mistaken identity, a kidnapping, and a threat of extortion, Li Mi's dream may be on the cusp of becoming a reality.
Cast
Reception
Early reviews by western critics suggested that Cao Baoping's sophomore film was a stylish thriller/drama, but that much depended on the power of Zhou Xun's performance as Li Mi. Shelly Kraicer, the Chinese film scholar and curator of the Vancouver International Film Festival's Dragons and Tigers competition noted that while director "Cao Baoping is an expert at orchestrating frenzy," the film ultimately belonged to Zhou Xun. Despite the praise, the film would not go on to win the award (which went to Emily Tang's Perfect Life). Variety critic Derek Elley also wrote in his review that the film was "motored by another saturated [performance] by the throaty-voiced Zhou."
Other critics saw the film as yet another example of China's growing sophistication with "genre films." The China Film Journal in its final verdict argued that while the film was not "life-changing," it was nevertheless a "step in the right direction" and that audiences would not mind "seeing a few more Memento-esque films" coming out of China in the near future.
The film won the Altadis New Directors Award at the 2008 San Sebastian International Film Festival.
References
The Equation of Love and Death WikipediaThe Equation of Love and Death IMDbThe Equation of Love and Death Rotten TomatoesThe Equation of Love and Death themoviedb.org