Zhou Yu’s Train—Zhou Yu the Huo Che (2002)

Directed by: Zhou Sun | 96 minutes | drama, romance | Actors: Gong Li, Tony Leung Ka-Fai, Sun Honglei

Poetic drama. The piece is initiated by the sonorous and melancholic sounds of a cello. This is typical of the atmosphere of the film, which begins and ends with a poem. The film even resembles a classic poem in itself, with the use of visual texts and repetition. Like the vet Zhang (Sun Honglei) who says to Zhou Yu, “I envy Chen Qing.” And later Xiu (Gong Li): “I envy Zhou Yu.” The viewer is often misled by the use of flashbacks, which sometimes turn out not to be flashbacks, and the story is told from the perspective of the narrator who is now Chen Qing’s girlfriend. She looks a lot like Zhou Yu. Is she now or not?

Unanswered questions, another important element. Why was Chen Qing so afraid to give a lecture? Didn’t Chen Qing write the poems himself after all, or can he no longer bear the pressure on him to perform as a poet? Those kinds of riddles make the story interesting. And the biggest riddle is Zhou Yu. Her hesitating attitude towards the charming, more materialistic vet, her obsessive travels. Her complex character, and possessive feelings for the poet Chen Qing. The search with Zhang for the lake from Chen Qing’s poem that she cannot find. The poet in Zhang comes loose and says something like, “If you don’t really believe in something, it never was there, but if it really exists in you, then it really is there.”

This claim to the imagination is also repeated. Later when Zhang says he saw Chen Qing and much later when Xiu says she saw Zhou Yu. This alternation of reality and imagination is an important thread through Zhou Yu’s Train. You think you see the scenery passing by Chen Qing’s window, as if you were on a train. Visual in visual terms are the beautiful Chinese landscapes and the beautiful compositions of the interior and actors.

‘Zhou Yu’s Train’ is a real work of art that sometimes feels a bit artificial. Precisely because of the many repetitions and sticking to a certain pattern. By letting the viewer experience the film from Xiu, and because it soon becomes clear that it will end badly, Zhou Sun creates an emotional distance and a somewhat static whole. The actors intrigue and invite you to follow the story. That story is exciting and ultimately logical. The film is reminiscent of a work of art in an exhibition, where you can occasionally dream away in the landscape of an abstract painting.