I Love You

Colour, 35 mm
China, 2002, 98 min
Section: Another View

Synopsis

Yi first met Ju when she was about to marry his best friend. They had been drinking one night and decided to go for a swim. A tragedy occurred when her fiancé dived into an empty pool and was killed. Yi sees her for a second time at a hospital where Ju is working as a nurse. He invites her on a date, then for another, the two fall in love and a wedding soon follows. The newlyweds move into the girl’s room, which also serves as a bedroom, living room, kitchen and study. Then come the first squabbles, and the arguments become more frequent and more intense. The girl behaves unreasonably but only needs reassurance that Yi loves her. He just wants some peace and quiet, and gets it by acting like a petulant child. The atmosphere is steeped in misunderstanding and another tragedy threatens to strike. It is not until they have gone their separate ways that they realise how much they love one another.

About the director

Zhang Yuan (b. 1963, Nanjing, Chinese province of Jiangsu) is an independent film director and producer. He graduated from the Beijing Film Academy in 1989. A year later he directed and produced his first film, Mama, a story about a young single mother and her retarded son. The film won the Jury Prize at the Three Continents Festival in Nantes. The director’s second film, Beijing Bastards won the Jury Prize at the festival in Singapore. This was followed by the feature documentary The Square, awarded in Hawaii, and the film Sons, which won a Tiger Award in Rotterdam. In 1996 he made the film East Palace, West Palace, which won Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Camera in Mar del Plata; the film was also screened at Cannes. Zhang won Best Director for the film Seventeen Years at Venice, along with other awards (at Gijon and Singapore), plus the UNESCO World Peace Prize.