Seafood (hai xian)

MOVIE:  Seafood (hai xian)

NUTSHELL:  Zhu Wen’s DV quirky tale of a suicidal Beijing prostitute who goes to the seaside resort of Beidaihe to end it all, only to find another hotel guest beats her to it and a local policeman is psychotic… and pretty darn frisky even for a nutjob.

GOOD THINGS:  Jin Zi as the depressed, congested and yet ghetto-fabulous pro.

BAD THINGS:  Cheng Taisheng as the psycho. Way too creepy for me! (Plus violence and rape)

FEATURES:  Prada, snow, train rides, sunglasses, a hell of a way to lose money, KFC hand blow dryers

UNCOMFORTABLE MOMENTS:  Salamanders served as food. I couldn’t take my eyes off of them. I was sure I was about to see something very unpleasant.

NOTABLE:  Notes say it’s in Mandarin but apparently a couple characters aren’t aware of that.

BEST PART:  The denouement I think. Maybe the funny stuff with the depressed long hair down the hall.

BEST LINE:  Life is wonderful. So much good seafood to eat.

CROWNS:  3 out of 5