April 18, 2004
Sex, lies and cell phones--film connects in China
This was actually written up last January by Smart Mobs and The Guardian, but somehow I missed it.
The hottest movie in China these days is "Cellphone", reports the Chicago Tribune, a dark comedy about a morally bankrupt television talk show host who lies, cheats and schemes his way through life using his feature-laden cell phone.
"The film explores several timely issues, including the new technology's effect on male-female relations, the growing acceptance of extramarital affairs and the loss of traditional values in China's race for material success.
Over the course of 140 minutes, the main character, Yan Shouyi, deletes text messages, switches off his phone, turns it to silent mode and claims to be "in an important meeting"--all in an effort to keep his wife, girlfriend and lover from finding out about one another.
As China lurches into the 21st Century, few things capture its people's search for meaning, prosperity and self-expression better than the cell phone. And the movie illustrates how the device has exposed the growing gap between the values of the closed, largely rural China of the past and the technology that represents the slick, increasingly urban nation of the future".
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