''The Postmodern Life of My Aunt'' () is a

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

serio-comedy

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

, directed by

Ann Hui Ann Hui On-wah, (; born 23 May 1947) is a film director, producer, screenwriter and actress from Hong Kong who is one of the most critically acclaimed filmmakers of the Hong Kong New Wave. She is known for her films about social issues in Hon ...

, starring

Siqin Gaowa Siqin Gaowa (, Mongolian Cyrillic ''Цэцэнгуа'', born 19 January 1950), born Duan Anlin, is a Chinese-born Swiss actress. She was born in Guangzhou to a Han Chinese father and a Mongol Chinese mother. Her father died when she was 4, she was ...

and

Chow Yun-fat Chow Yun-fat (born 18 May 1955), previously known as Donald Chow, is a Hong Kong actor. He is perhaps best known for his collaborations with filmmaker John Woo in the five Hong Kong action heroic bloodshed films: ''A Better Tomorrow'', ''A Be ...

. The film also guest-stars Chinese actresses

Zhao Wei Zhao Wei (; born 12 March 1976), also known as Vicky Zhao or Vicki Zhao, is a Chinese actress, businesswoman, film director, producer and pop singer. She is considered one of the most popular actresses in China and Chinese-speaking regions, an ...

and

Lisa Lu Lisa Lu Yan (; born January 19, 1927) is a Chinese actress. She won the Golden Horse Awards three times in the 1970s. She is the only person who is a member of both the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts ...

. Its executive producer was

Yuan Mei Yuan Mei (; 1716–1797) was a Chinese painter and poet of the Qing Dynasty. He was often mentioned with Ji Yun as the "Nan Yuan Bei Ji" (). Biography Early life Yuan Mei was born in Qiantang (, in modern Hangzhou), Zhejiang province, to a cu ...

; another producer was Er Yong. The film was based on a novel of the same title written by Yan Yan (), while the film's screenplay was by

Li Qiang Li Qiang (; born 23 July 1959) is a Chinese politician and a senior leader of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), serving as the second-ranking member of the 20th CCP Politburo Standing Committee, behind CCP general secretary Xi Jinping. From 2 ...

, a Chinese scriptwriter, who had written the script of the 2005 film ''

Peacock Peafowl is a common name for three bird species in the genera ''Pavo (genus), Pavo'' and ''Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae, the pheasants and their allies. Male peafowl are referred to as peacocks, and female pea ...

'', directed by

Gu Changwei Gu Changwei (born 12 December 1957) is a Chinese cinematographer and film director. Gu was born in Xi'an, Shaanxi in the People's Republic of China. Gu is considered one of the major Chinese cinematographers working today.Zhang, Yingjin & Xiao, Z ...

Synopsis

Ye Rutang (Siqin Gaowa), a single-living woman in her late fifties, struggles to maintain a dignified life amid the dangers of Shanghai. Living alone in an apartment, she endures gossipy neighbor Mrs Shui (Lisa Lu) and her pampered cat. She is pragmatic, frugal and self-reliant, but her old-fashionedness and trusting nature make it difficult for her to fit into Shanghai society. After encountering self-proclaimed aesthete Pan Zhichang (Chow Yun-Fat), she falls for Pan and uses her life savings to invest on cemetery spaces on Pan's suggestion. He turns out to be a fraudster. After being the victim of several con artists, Ye suffers a bad fall and is hospitalized. She decides to leave Shanghai to live with her working-class husband and cook daughter (Zhao Wei) in

Anshan Anshan () is an inland prefecture-level city in central-southeast Liaoning province, People's Republic of China, about south of the provincial capital Shenyang. As of the 2020 census, it was Liaoning's third most populous city with a population ...

Liaoning Liaoning () is a coastal province in Northeast China that is the smallest, southernmost, and most populous province in the region. With its capital at Shenyang, it is located on the northern shore of the Yellow Sea, and is the northernmost ...

Release and Reception

''The Postmodern Life of My Aunt'' premiered at film festivals around the world; it was a special presentation at the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a permane ...

. Perry Lam of ''Muse'' gave the film a very positive review: "''The Postmodern Life of My Aunt'' is that rare thing in Hong Kong cinema, one that occupies the shadow land between tragedy and comedy. It's hard to categorize ''My Aunt'' and assign it to a genre because its characters are so fully formed and three-dimensional."

Cast and roles

- Pan Zhichang, a suave, middle-aged con artist who sings

Beijing Opera Peking opera, or Beijing opera (), is the most dominant form of Chinese opera, which combines music, vocal performance, mime, dance and acrobatics. It arose in Beijing in the mid-Qing dynasty (1644–1912) and became fully developed and recognize ...

and is a self-proclaimed aesthete *

- Ye Rutang ("the aunt"), a lady in her late fifties living alone in Shanghai away from her husband and daughter in Anshan. Her trusting nature makes her an easy target to swindlers. *

- Liu Dafan, Ye's daughter, a cook in Anshan *

Fang Qingzhuo A fang is a long, pointed tooth. In mammals, a fang is a modified maxillary tooth, used for biting and tearing flesh. In snakes, it is a specialized tooth that is associated with a venom gland (see snake venom). Spiders also have external fan ...

* Guan Wenshuo - Kuan-kuan, Ye's nephew * Jiao Gang - Guo Feng *

- Mrs. Shui, Ye's neighbor in Shanghai. She is gossipy and is always with her cat. *

Shi Ke Shi Ke (; ; born 8 January 1993) is a Chinese footballer who currently plays for Shandong Taishan in the Chinese Super League. Club career Shi Ke started his football career in 2006 when he joined Hangzhou Greentown's youth academy from Wuxi ...

- Jin Yonghua, a woman who is so poor that she desperately attempts con jobs that lands her at the police station. * Wang Yi - Nurse *

Wang Ziwen Wang Ziwen (, born 28 February 1987), also known by her English name Olivia Wang and now as Ava Wang, is a Chinese actress. She is most known for portraying Qu Xiaoxiao in the popular Chinese television drama ''Ode to Joy'' and as Xuxu in ''When ...

- Fei-fei *

Zhang Zhi-Hua Zhang may refer to: Chinese culture, etc. * Zhang (surname) (張/张), common Chinese surname ** Zhang (surname 章), a rarer Chinese surname * Zhang County (漳县), of Dingxi, Gansu * Zhang River (漳河), a river flowing mainly in Henan * ''Zha ...

- Nurse

Filming locations

The film is set and was filmed in

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

and in

, as Anshan is the birthplace of director Ann Hui. Filming locations in Shanghai include the overpass at Shaanxi and

Yan'an Yan'an (; ), alternatively spelled as Yenan is a prefecture-level city in the Shaanbei region of Shaanxi province, China, bordering Shanxi to the east and Gansu to the west. It administers several counties, including Zhidan (formerly Bao'an ...

roads, and the old houses on Julu Road. Filming in Anshan took place in the first days of 2006. The snow in Anshan was produced artificially.

Awards and nominations

27th Hong Kong Film Awards Ceremony for the 27th Hong Kong Film Awards was held on 14 April 2008 in the Hong Kong Cultural Centre and hosted by Carol Cheng, Sandra Ng and Sammi Cheng. Winners in nineteen categories were unveiled, with film ''The Warlords'' being the year's ...

* Won: Best Actress (Siqin Gaowa) * Won: Best Original Film Score (

Joe Hisaishi , known professionally as , is a Japanese composer, musical director, conductor and pianist, known for over 100 film scores and solo albums dating back to 1981. He is also known for his piano scores. Hisaishi's music has been known to explor ...

) * Nominated: Best Director (Ann Hui) * Nominated: Best Supporting Actor (Chow Yun Fat) * Nominated: Best Supporting Actress (

) * Nominated: Best Screenplay (Li Qiang) * Nominated: Best Cinematography (Kwan Pun Leung and Yu Lik Wai) * Nominated: Best Costume Make Up Design ( Ma Yu Tao) 43rd

Golden Horse Awards The Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards () is a film festival and awards ceremony held annually in Taiwan. It was founded in 1962 by the Government Information Office of the Republic of China (ROC) in Taiwan. The awards ceremony is us ...

english.cri.cn
/ref> * Nominated: Best Actress (Siqin Gaowa) * Nominated: Best Supporting Actress (

) * Nominated: Best Adapted Screenplay (Li Qiang) 12th

Golden Bauhinia Awards Golden Bauhinia Awards () is a Hong Kong film award organised by the Hong Kong Film Critics Association. Its first award presentation ceremony took place in 1996. The award attracted controversy in 2007, when ten nominations were given to Pang ...

* Nominated: Best Director (Ann Hui) * Nominated: Best Screenplay (Qiang Li) 14th

Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards The Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards () are the annual awards given by the Hong Kong Film Critics Society in Hong Kong since 1994. The awards are determined by votes cast in three rounds after a substantial discussion session between the mem ...

* Won: Best Actress (Siqin Gaowa) * Won: Best Director (Ann Hui) * Won: Best Film

References

External links

HK cinemagic entry
Contains trailer.

"Aunt production team's daily needs in Anshan"

"Zhao Wei enjoying her 'stint' as chef in Anshan"
*
asianfilmweb.de
Several pictures from the film.
More pictures

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Postmodern Life Of My Aunt 2006 films 2006 drama films Hong Kong films 2000s Mandarin-language films Films scored by Joe Hisaishi Films directed by Ann Hui Films set in Shanghai Films with screenplays by Li Qiang