Arquivo / 49ª mostra

Ping Guo (Apple) works as a masseuse at the Gold Basin Foot Massage Palace, a popular foot massage place run by Lin Dong, a middle-aged nouveau riche businessman. One day Ping Guo gets drunk while out with a friend. Her boss, Lin Dong, exploits the situation to have sex with her at the workplace. Ping Guo’ husband, An Kun, who works as a high-rise window cleaner, witnesses their tryst while he is working. Following this ambiguous rape, Ping Guo gets pregnant. An Kun blackmails Lin Dong: either he pays compensation or gets sued for rape. But Lin Dong and his wife Wang Mei don‚Äôt have a child. The two men reach an agreement on money-child trade so Lin Dong and Wang Mei can be parents. The terms of the contract include Ping Guo moving in with them for six months to act as a nanny. Against the hectic backdrop of Beijing, this story explores the social reality of China today, where a fast growing economy brings new challenges to traditional values, family relations and women’ position as well as conflict between the material and the spiritual.