Drifters (film)
Encyclopedia
Drifters is a 2003 Chinese film directed by Wang Xiaoshuai
. The film is a production of Hong Kong's Purple Light Films and People Workshop with international distribution through the Taipei
-based company Arc Light Films. Drifters premiered in the 2003 Cannes Film Festival
as part of the Un Certain Regard
competition.
Drifters follows a young slacker, Hong Yunsheng, who has become something of a local celebrity in part due to his failures as a stowaway. Recently returned to his home in Fujian
after several years abroad in the U.S. as an illegal immigrant, Hong attempts to reconnect with an illegitimate son.
Back home, Hong again takes up his old habits, wandering around the town, unemployed and listless. At the same time, he attempts to find romance with a traveling opera performer, Wu Ruifang. Eventually he hears that the child he fathered in the United States is coming to Fujian. Desiring to see the child he has never known, Hong and his boss argue until eventually Hong takes desperate measures and kidnaps the boy.
The consequences for Hong, however, are just beginning.
, Drifters received mixed reviews from western critics. Derek Elley of Variety
claimed that the film's "potentially involving story is too often chopped off at the knees," and also found the movie's cast to be limited by inexperience. Other critics were even harsher, finding that the film used over-direction to hide a simple and "syrupy" melodrama. Still others, however, were more positive. Bérénice Reynaud of Senses of Cinema
found the film to be superior to the "superficial" Beijing Bicycle
, and put Drifters in the growing category of "mature, disturbing, thought-provoking masterpieces inspired by globalisation."
competition of the 2003 Cannes Film Festival
on May 20. In addition to this, the film was screened at ten major film festivals around the world. These included:
DVD
on September 15, 2005 by Film Movement. The DVD was in the original Mandarin with English
subtitles. Special features included biographies of the cast and crew, and a short film, Robot Boy by Ted Passon. The disc's aspect ratio
was 1.78:1 in letterbox format.
Wang Xiaoshuai
Wang Xiaoshuai is a Chinese film director, screenwriter and occasional actor. He is commonly grouped under the loose association of filmmakers known as the Sixth Generation of the Cinema of China....
. The film is a production of Hong Kong's Purple Light Films and People Workshop with international distribution through the Taipei
Taipei
Taipei City is the capital of the Republic of China and the central city of the largest metropolitan area of Taiwan. Situated at the northern tip of the island, Taipei is located on the Tamsui River, and is about 25 km southwest of Keelung, its port on the Pacific Ocean...
-based company Arc Light Films. Drifters premiered in the 2003 Cannes Film Festival
2003 Cannes Film Festival
The 2003 Cannes Film Festival started on May 14 and ran until May 25. The Palme d'Or went to the American film Elephant by Gus Van Sant.-Jury:* Patrice Chéreau, President * Aishwarya Rai * Meg Ryan * Karin Viard...
as part of the Un Certain Regard
Un Certain Regard
Un Certain Regard is a section of the Cannes Film Festival's Official Selection. It is run at the Salle Debussy, parallel to the competition for the Palme d'Or.This section was introduced in 1978 by Gilles Jacob...
competition.
Drifters follows a young slacker, Hong Yunsheng, who has become something of a local celebrity in part due to his failures as a stowaway. Recently returned to his home in Fujian
Fujian
' , formerly romanised as Fukien or Huguing or Foukien, is a province on the southeast coast of mainland China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, and Guangdong to the south. Taiwan lies to the east, across the Taiwan Strait...
after several years abroad in the U.S. as an illegal immigrant, Hong attempts to reconnect with an illegitimate son.
Cast
- Duan Long as Hong Yunsheng, the titular drifter in the film. Hong spent several years in the United States as an undocumented immigrant before being deported back to his home in Fujian. He spends his days loafing around his home town.
- Shu Yan as Wu Ruifang, a member of a travelling Shanghai OperaChinese operaChinese opera is a popular form of drama and musical theatre in China with roots going back as far as the third century CE...
troupe. Hong's love interest. - Zhao Yiwei
- Tang Yang
- Jin Peizhu
Plot
Hong Yunsheng is a jobless wanderer in Fujian. Attempting to find a better life in the United States, he enters the country as an undocumented worker. While there, however, his American dream quickly falls apart when he and his boss's daughter have a child. He was then told not to visit his son and he is made to sign a paper which is like a contract. He violates that by continuing to visit his son. Enraged, Hong's boss informs the INS and has him deported back to Fujian.Back home, Hong again takes up his old habits, wandering around the town, unemployed and listless. At the same time, he attempts to find romance with a traveling opera performer, Wu Ruifang. Eventually he hears that the child he fathered in the United States is coming to Fujian. Desiring to see the child he has never known, Hong and his boss argue until eventually Hong takes desperate measures and kidnaps the boy.
The consequences for Hong, however, are just beginning.
Reception
Unlike Wang's previous film, Beijing BicycleBeijing Bicycle
Beijing Bicycle is a 2001 Chinese drama film by Sixth Generation Chinese director Wang Xiaoshuai, with joint investment from the Taiwanese Arc Light Films and the French Pyramide Productions. The film stars first-time actors Cui Lin and Li Bin, supported by the already established actresses Zhou...
, Drifters received mixed reviews from western critics. Derek Elley of Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
claimed that the film's "potentially involving story is too often chopped off at the knees," and also found the movie's cast to be limited by inexperience. Other critics were even harsher, finding that the film used over-direction to hide a simple and "syrupy" melodrama. Still others, however, were more positive. Bérénice Reynaud of Senses of Cinema
Senses of Cinema
Senses of Cinema is a quarterly online film magazine founded in 1999 by filmmaker Bill Mousoulis. Based in Melbourne, Australia, Senses of Cinema publishes work by film critics from all over the world, including critical essays, career overviews of the works of key directors, and coverage of many...
found the film to be superior to the "superficial" Beijing Bicycle
Beijing Bicycle
Beijing Bicycle is a 2001 Chinese drama film by Sixth Generation Chinese director Wang Xiaoshuai, with joint investment from the Taiwanese Arc Light Films and the French Pyramide Productions. The film stars first-time actors Cui Lin and Li Bin, supported by the already established actresses Zhou...
, and put Drifters in the growing category of "mature, disturbing, thought-provoking masterpieces inspired by globalisation."
Release
Like many of Wang's films, Drifters was screened in the Un Certain RegardUn Certain Regard
Un Certain Regard is a section of the Cannes Film Festival's Official Selection. It is run at the Salle Debussy, parallel to the competition for the Palme d'Or.This section was introduced in 1978 by Gilles Jacob...
competition of the 2003 Cannes Film Festival
2003 Cannes Film Festival
The 2003 Cannes Film Festival started on May 14 and ran until May 25. The Palme d'Or went to the American film Elephant by Gus Van Sant.-Jury:* Patrice Chéreau, President * Aishwarya Rai * Meg Ryan * Karin Viard...
on May 20. In addition to this, the film was screened at ten major film festivals around the world. These included:
- 2003 Toronto International Film FestivalToronto International Film FestivalThe Toronto International Film Festival is a publicly-attended film festival held each September in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In 2010, 339 films from 59 countries were screened at 32 screens in downtown Toronto venues...
(Contemporary World Film), September 5, 2003 - 2003 Vancouver International Film FestivalVancouver International Film FestivalThe Vancouver International Film Festival is an annual film festival held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada for two weeks in late September and early October...
(official selection), October 2003 - 2003 Hawaii International Film FestivalHawaii International Film FestivalThe Hawaii International Film Festival is a film festival held in the U.S. state of Hawaii. It was started in 1981 by Jeannette Paulson Hereniko and has been held annually in the fall for two weeks...
(official selection), November 2, 2003 - 2003 Nantes Three Continents FestivalThree Continents FestivalThe Festival of the Three Continents is an annual film festival held since 1979 in Nantes, France, and is devoted to the cinemas of Asia, and Africa and Latin America. It was founded by Philippe and Alain Jalladeau. The top award in the festival's competition is the balloon shaped Golden...
(official selection), November 25, 2003 - 2003 AFI Film FestivalAmerican Film InstituteThe American Film Institute is an independent non-profit organization created by the National Endowment for the Arts, which was established in 1967 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act...
(official selection), November 2003 - 2003 Thessaloniki International Film FestivalThessaloniki International Film FestivalThe Thessaloniki International Film Festival has become one of the Balkans' primary showcases for the work of new and emerging filmmakers...
(Official Programe), November 2003 - 2004 Rotterdam International Film Festival (official selection), January 24, 2004
- 2004 Seattle International Film FestivalSeattle International Film FestivalThe Seattle International Film Festival , held annually in Seattle, Washington since 1976, is among the top film festivals in North America. Audiences have grown steadily; the 2006 festival had 160,000 attendees...
(official selection), May 31, 2004 - 2004 Karlovy Vary Film Festival (official selection), July 7, 2004
- 2004 Calgary International Film FestivalCalgary International Film FestivalThe Calgary International Film Festival is a film festival held annually in Calgary, Alberta, Canada for ten days in late September and early October...
(official selection), October 2, 2004
Home media
Drifters was released on Region 1DVD region code
DVD region codes are a digital-rights management technique designed to allow film distributors to control aspects of a release, including content, release date, and price, according to the region...
DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
on September 15, 2005 by Film Movement. The DVD was in the original Mandarin with English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
subtitles. Special features included biographies of the cast and crew, and a short film, Robot Boy by Ted Passon. The disc's aspect ratio
Aspect ratio
The aspect ratio of a shape is the ratio of its longer dimension to its shorter dimension. It may be applied to two characteristic dimensions of a three-dimensional shape, such as the ratio of the longest and shortest axis, or for symmetrical objects that are described by just two measurements,...
was 1.78:1 in letterbox format.