Any time I saw her,
I knew
I was in a dream again.
And once you know you're dreaming,
it's an out-of-body experience.
Sometimes you float upwards.
In my dreams
I would always wonder,
if my body were made of hydrogen.
If so
then my memories
must be made of stone.
What did you dream of?
Someone who disappeared.
Whenever I'm about to forget her,
I dream of her again.
Your lover?
I guess,
but I never knew her real name or age.
Or anything
about her past.
That sounds like a story
from that green-covered book.
I told you not to go through my stuff.
I wanted to know more about you.
Luo Hongwu!
I might never have gone back to Kaili,
if my father hadn't died.
It seems now that everything
began with the death of a friend.
His nickname was Wildcat,
and he was always doing gambling debts.
The last time I saw him,
I helped him pull a cart of apples
he was going to sell that night to a man named Zuo Hongyuan.
But I'd just gotten divorced at the time.
I was a little forgetful.
When I remembered those apples
they were already rotten.
Later, my ex-wife's friend, an auxiliary police officer,
told me Wildcat's body was found in a mine shaft.
While I was cleaning up the rotten apples
I found a gun there.
After that,
I always found myself attracted to danger.
Before your father died,
he always drank alone in front of that broken clock.
I couldn't get to stop.
In his will,
he left you the van, and left me the restaurant.
That's okay with you, right?
he once told me that you were away working all this times.
Is that right?
I was managing a casino.
I'm going to remodel that restaurant.
Do you have anywhere else to stay?
Best not change the sign.
That's my mother's name.
"Feng Restaurant"
"Over the next week Kaili will see persistent periods
of rain with heavy precipitation,
in some areas becoming thunderstorms."
"The risk of collapses and mudslides in these areas is high,
please take care on the road."
"Tai Zhaomei, 0851-82709507"
After Wildcat died,
I saw his ghost on the train.
Perhaps we'd gone through a very long tunnel
and I was hallucinating.
it was the summer solstice.
That day the noonday sun was at its zenith.
Zuo Hongyuan had vanished from Kaili,
but I had tracked down his lover.
Assuming it wasn't hallucinating,
I also remember that a mudslide
had stopped the train.
Got a light?
I don't know where he is.
The police are looking for him, too.
You thought I was afraid of you?
"The number you have dialed does not exist."
"Please check the number and try again."
Give me a phone card.
50 Yuan or 100?
Whatever.
I don't Know
how a detective
investigates a strange woman.
So I took her back to Feng restaurant.
My mom once told me
that when people are eating, they're too distracted to lie.
Wildcat was a liar from an early age.
He used my name
to make a dangerous trade,
and tried to extort money using the secret of the gun.
I didn't keep questioning her.
I thought that was the end of the story,
but it was only the beginning.
That night at dinner,
her make-up reminded me of a photo of my mother.
I remember it said on the calendar
"Today the noonday sun is at its zenith."
After that,
the days grow shorter, and the nights longer,
You said I could leave after we ate.
Why are you still following me?
I think
you look a lot like someone I know.
I'm not falling for that old trick.
What is it you want?
I mean it.
She disappeared when I was little.
I remember that day,
there was a fire nearby.
Look!
For some reason,
I remember in the photo,
her makeup was smeared, too.
The train was rocking,
it made a mess of my face.
You're not from Kaili, are you?
How do you know?
Your accent.
I've got a Kaili accent!
Your name.
Say it in the Kaili dialect.
Wan Qiwen.
Sounds like a movie star's name.
How much longer will you follow me?
Did I frighten you today?
How can I make it up to you?
I want to eat a pomelo fruit.
Where can I get a pomelo in summer?
Let's make a deal.
If I can find a wild pomelo,
help me make a wish come true.
Hello?
"Luo Hongwu"
"That nonexistent number was once a womans prison, in Guiyang."
"Has something happened?"
Nothing.
Just off to see a friend.
Pager.
Could your husband get me a prison permit?
"Sure."
Good.
Tai Zhaomei?
Are you Tai Zhaomei?
I am.
Do you know Wan Qiwen?
No.
Did you once mail a photo to the Feng Restaurant?
I don't recall.
This photo.
So she left you her green book.
We were only 15 or 16 at the time.
We'd never stolen anything before,
We scoped out the house for a long time.
Then finally, one day,
we saw the couple had gone out,
so that night, we broke down their door.
She was holding the flashlight.
and shone it all around.
She told us she'd discovered
that the house could spin.
So we all sat down,
and kept perfectly still, like a bunch of idiots.
We wasted a lot of time waiting.
Then we started going through their stuff.
We found some rings, necklaces, gold, and money,
but just then, the couple come back.
We all panicked.
We didn't know what to do.
In that instant,
we decided
we'd each grab the most valuable thing we could, and run.
When we got out into the woods to split the goods,
we saw
She had come out only with a book.
We stayed in the woods and read it.
It was a love story.
We only heard half the story,
but we all liked it a lot.
And she told us that she'd keep the book
for the person she liked most.
And this photo?
How did you get this?
She gave it to me.
There's a funny story behind it.
Mr. Ace tricked us into going to kaili.
He sold her to a man with bald spots,
who liked her singing voice.
When she left with him, I asked her if she was upset.
She replied,
"Why would I be upset?"
"With him, I can go to the movies."
She only regretted a little bit
not having a photo taken first.
She didn't know what she'd become.
Twelve years ago,
I think it was her birthday, she came to visit me.
As she was leaving she asked me
if the photo looked like her.
I said no.
Then she left it with me.
Later, I was arrested,
Around the Spring Festival, I met a prisoner from Kaili.
She looked at that photograph,
and said it was taken at the Feng Restaurant.
So I mailed it there.
Maybe she had already left.
What did they lock you up for?
Plenty.
Theft, fraud,
making counterfeit IDs.
I don't know where she is either.
You knew her better than I did.
I want to give you this book.
Do you believe the love story in the book?
That if you say the spell on page one,
the lover's house will begin to spin?
Hold it!
I told you to stop!
What is it?
It's from Tai Zhaomei.
Thanks.
She was always disappearing and reappearing,
As mysterious as that abandoned house.
Besides our trysts in that flooded room
we always went to see movies.
The difference between film and memory, is that films are always false.
They are composed of a series of scenes.
But memories mix truth and lies,
they appear and vanish before our eyes.
"Chen Huixian, Panghai county. Guizhou"
Isn't it a Cantopop singer's name?
Plenty of people have the same name.
There really are two Chen Huixian in Panghai.
Once's a lot older.
Her registration records end in 1999.
The other Chen
is thirty-six.
Married.
That's all I know.
And her husband?
His name is Wang Zhicheng,
running a hotel in Panghai.
They've already left.
There's something I'm not sure I should tell you.
Everything about you is a mystery.
My pregnancy...
A boy. I think.
A boy who would grow up
to be an athlete.
I'll teach him to play ping pong.
However,
while I was gone last time,
I had an abortion.
Why?
Zuo is coming back to Kaili.
Why don't we leave Kaili?
Go someplace far away?
You think I don't want to?
Everything you're thinking,
I've already thought about it.
There was one time,
when Zuo was singing karaoke,
he turned to me with microphone and said:
"No matter where you run,
"I will always find you."
Every time I remember that
I know,
No matter what,
I'll never escape in this lifetime.
You have to believe in me,
like you believe in that spell.
Luo Hongwu,
we cannot survive
unless we live together in the stars.
Some people said the world would end in 1999.
Now it's the year 2000.
And we're all still fucking alive.
I have a friend who runs a casino in Burma.
Go back and wait for me.
Spend the night packing up,
then we'll go.
"Kaili-Panghai"
What's that sound?
No idea. I'll check later.
Show me your License.
Falling in love with you.
I erase everything.
I hold my breath, silently, secretly, gently.
Is it really so?
I know you are leaving me.
But I cannot stop
the tears falling down.
Boss,
you scared me to death.
It's fake! Why so jumpy?
All you do is sleep all day.
The TV's broken,
but you don't get it fixed.
No one watches TV these days.
Bag anything today?
The dog has no stamina,
and it gets overheated.
Always sniffing the ground,
and the ground is hot.
Even running makes it dizzy.
Boss, someone's waiting for you.
What do you want?
I'm looking for someone.
What are you to her?
A friend from Kaili.
Kaili!
Dad. Kaili ran off with my egg!
Are you Luo Hongwu?
Since the day we were found,
I worried about who was flying to the stars.
They must be so exhausted,
with nothing to rest their bodies against.
Have you made up your mind?
The water's Freezing.
I'm afraid I'll fail.
It's so dark in movie theater
If you fire along with the killer onscreen,
everyone will think it was a sound effect.
We'll leave Kaili, and use his money to open a hotel.
We'll find those lights that looks like the sun,
and put them up outside the hotel.
And the guests will sleep free of nightmares.
Ever since she moved in,
she stayed locked inside
and never went out.
Spit it out!
When she ran out of money to pay,
she'd tell me a story every day, instead of rent.
She told me stories
until we got married.
Will she be back tonight?
We just finalized the divorce.
One day she told me she was going for a walk,
and she never came back.
Do you ever hear from her?
She performs in a bar in Dongmai.
After she left, I occasionally went to hear her sing.
And it was always that same song.
Later,
I went less and less.
Is that child yours?
She was a master storyteller.
I didn't know what was real, what was false.
Anyway, she told me that she was born infertile.
"Hairdressing and Perming"
Need a haircut?
Our water's off.
You haven't been here since Wildcat died.
And now you're here
like a detective.
Why ask about the killer's woman?
She took something valuable from me.
You'd better stay away from her.
Back then, Zuo borrowed a gun from Wildcat's father
to kill a man for her.
Then she become his lover.
But later I heard that she had affairs with several men.
That's all I know about her.
When I was a kid,
a beekeeper lived next door for a while.
My mom would sneak in,
and get me lots of honey to eat.
Your mother wasn't stung?
Beekeepers wear special protective clothing.
My mom said
only to light one smoking torch,
and the bees would disperse.
Sometimes when she didn't get any,
she'd be upset,
and eat an apple.
I remember she told me that
when people were very sad,
they would eat an apple,
the whole thing, core and all.
The Kaili weather channel issued a red-alert storm
warning at 6:14pm today.
Kaili will see
more than 50 millimeters of precipitation over the next three days,
bringing severe danger of mudslides.
Mudslides are a disastrous geological phenomenon
often associated with flooding in mountainous regions,
and tend strike suddenly, carrying with them massive boulders.
If the storm does hit these days,
what will you do?
Weather forecasts are often wrong.
Do you remember how to dye hair?
I taught you,
but you must have forgotten.
When you were my trainee,
you never worked hard,
always hanging out with Wildcat.
Actually when we snuck out together,
I went with him to visit his father.
When we were kids,
he lied and told me
his dad had an awesome nickname:
The Eagle.
Later, I found out that his father was in prison.
Guess what color I'm gonna dye my hair?
Maybe a color that only shows up in the sunshine?
What color would your mother choose?
I don't know.
Maybe red.
Red?
Nonsense, who wants red hair?
I still think it's too dangerous.
When I was on the train,
a mudslides forced us to turn back to Kaili.
It's living in the past that scary, not mudslides.
I no longer remember what that movie was called.
And I don't remember if she gave me that green book,
or simply forgot it on top of the wall.
I only remember that, when I returned to that leaking house,
she was already gone.
And, that night,
I memorized the spell
that would make the house spin.
But
even if it really did spin,
so what?
Hey there, want to play?
Is the karaoke parlor open at night?
We open at nine.
We know how to take care of you.
Will the singers on the poster be there?
It's their night. The place will be torn down at dawn.
One song, you get a fruit plate. Three, you get a girl.
Is there a singer here called Wan Qiwen?
Wan Qiwen, Meng Tingwei, Momoe Yamaguchi, they're all here.
Does Wan Qiwen sing Japanese songs?
They sing whatever you want.
How old is the singer?
At night, who can tell?
What's drawn on the wall of the parlor?
We'll be open in just over an hour.
Go see a movie, relax a bit.
See for yourself when you come back.
"Winter Solstice"
Who are you?
I was going ask you the same thing.
I'm lost.
What's with the lamp?
Lost, huh?
You look pretty shifty to me.
Where did you come from?
I fell asleep in a movie theater.
When I woke up,
everyone had left the theater.
It was pith dark in there.
like a maze.
I followed a narrow passageway,
and found myself in this cave.
Only porn theaters are built like that.
you know it all, don't you?
Of course.
So you know the way out of this maze?
No idea.
Why are you burning that photo?
Looks like I'm stuck here for the night.
But tonight's my last chance to see her.
Moping won't do you any good.
I was just fooling.
Beat me at ping pong,
and I'll take you out of here.
Ping pong?
Scared?
That door with the map on it,
bring it here.
You're not fooling?
I drew that map,
what do you think?
Hurry up!
What are the rules?
Rules? Look at us!
Change ends!
You talk too much.
We play the proper way.
I'll serve first.
Think I'm scared of you?
Come on!
You can't even serve straight.
Come on.
Rubbish!
I'm playing for real now.
Come on, serve.
What kind of serve was that?
Spin serve.
Spin serve... Again!
Alright then.
Give up?
I lose.
Spin serve... God damn.
You beat me fair and square.
I'll take you out of here.
Catch.
It'll keep you warm on the scooter.
Aren't you locking up?
You're not worried about thieves?
Who'd come and steal stuff, besides you?
Get on.
Hurry it up.
Are you on?
Okay.
How'd you end up living in a mine?
Because I'm a ghost.
There are many kinds of ghosts,
which are you?
The most naive kind.
How old are you?
Twelve.
You lie a lot for such a young kid.
Did nobody teach you right from wrong?
How about you?
Can I ask you a question?
What about?
Have you ever kissed a woman?
Of course I have.
What did it feel like?
Like being in a dream.
She must have been pretty.
Very pretty.
What did she look like?
I've forgotten.
Why's it so cold today?
What are you talking about? It's winter.
Where'd you learn to lie so much?
You're the liar.
How cold you forget how she looked?
It was a long time ago,
I have forgotten.
The road ahead's blocked.
I'll push the scooter around.
Get off.
Whose coat is this?
My dad's.
Did he lock you in there?
Don't open my wounds.
How come you've got a gun?
Because I'm a killer.
There are many kinds of killers,
Which are you?
The most naive kind.
Go down there,
and follow the high wall.
Go through the ruined prison,
and you'll find a way back.
Down from here?
I came here from there.
Try the road if you don't believe me.
This way takes you straight in.
This paddle is for you.
Hoping for a rematch some day?
If you spin the paddle,
you can fly down there.
Give it a try.
You know, when a kid lies,
the moon will cut hus ear off.
Have a nice trip.
It's so dark.
Is it safe?
A man should have some courage.
Okay.
What's your name?
Why don't you give me one?
No, I can't.
Only fathers can give sons a name.
How about a nickname, then?
Like what? Ping Pong Super boy?
That's cheesy...
If I see you again,
I'll call you Wildcat.
And you'll teach me the spin serve?
Sure.
I'll light your way with the scooter.
Hey, we're paying up!
Thanks very much to our contestants!
Weren't those songs enchanting?
And thanks to all of you
for attending tonight's Wild Pomelo Karaoke competition.
Let me remind you all that
we'll be selecting a singer from among the contestants.
Even you could become a superstar overnight.
Hurry up and register around the back.
I'm closing up,
Come back tomorrow.
Are you deaf?
You look a lot like a friend of mine.
Leave me alone.
I mean it.
What's her name?
Wan Qiwen.
Yeah, right, that's a movie star's name.
You think I don't know?
Hey, what the hell?
No scar, no mole, no tattoo.
I'm not the woman you Think I am.
I'm sorry, my mistake.
I'm used to guys like you.
Cigarettes, Kaizhen.
When the game's over, I'm closing up.
What's the rush?
What a wonderful night!
You want to go down and give me a tune?
Shut up!
Let go of me! It hurts!
I'll give you a chance.
Sink this shot and you can piss off.
When Jian's back I'll tell him you've got a new man!
What are you doing back here again?
Some kid tricked me.
He said if I followed the wall of the jail,
I'd find the way out.
Wait for me by the door.
I'll take you down.
Where's the key?
On the wall there.
It's not here.
Locked in again.
You don't have the key?
There, when those two punks threw it.
Now what do we do?
We just wait.
Wait for someone to come up and play.
Okay.
But there is a show now,
who knows how long we need to wait.
Then we'll wait unit morning.
I'm not standing here
all night with you.
By the time this song's over,
we'll pry the door open.
You are not a local?
None of your business.
Kai... Zhen...
What?
What does your name mean?
It means the Pearl of Kaili.
Kind of old-fashioned, huh?
Not at all. I'm from Kaili.
How about a game of pool?
I'm no good at it.
You run a pool hall and can't play?
This is my boyfriend's place.
What the hell, let's play!
It's weird just standing here.
Your boyfriend's name is Jian?
Yeah.
Will people get the wrong idea?
Wrong ideas are what draw us together.
Will your boyfriend come back tonight?
None of your business if he does!
He's in Kaili.
He's with his boss, collecting debts.
He said, once he's earned enough money,
He'll bring me to Kaili,
where we'll ride in the plane.
Kaili doesn't have an airport.
I know he's lying.
The fireworks seller down there told me
He'd seen Jian with another woman.
Someone prettier than me.
Someone who speaks the kaili dialect.
Why are you still waiting for him?
You know how to play that fruit machine?
Wild Pomelo is the hardest fruit win.
I made up my mind,
if I won a pomelo,
then I'd leave this place.
Just now, after you left, I got one.
Where do you want to go?
If I could, I'd be a singer.
I'd perform all over Guizhou,
earn a lot of money,
and treat myself to a plane trip.
How does it feel to fly in a plane?
I get airsick.
Okay, the music has stopped.
Can you get something to pry the lock?
A paddle?
That's how you'll get the door open?
If we spin this,
it will allow us to fly.
Give me your hand.
What for?
Think I'm going to fall for that?
That's not how you get to hold my hand.
Hey!
Let go of me! Where are you taking me?
So that paddle's supposed to let us fly?
And you think that's going to work?
And with this much wind!
So if it stops spinning,
will we fall?
Let's give it a try.
Has the moon grown?
No.
We are actually flying.
So it feels like
to stay in that house.
Which house?
It belonged to a pair of lovers.
They turned it into the sweetest house in the world.
I was so envious.
Let's fly closer to the house, shall we?
I've got to find that woman tomorrow.
I wish she were you.
Put me down.
Why?
I'm getting airsick!
That's the gate.
Go away.
But it's not yet dawn,
I'll stay long enough for a song.
Get onstage and sing, then I'll leave.
No, and stop following me!
Please.
I'm not going to sing for you.
Did your new lover dump you?
I dumped him.
Two yuan.
Got a light?
A thief just stole it.
Light it at the can
over there.
Look, that woman is going crazy again!
How long will this firework burn?
A minute.
Come out!
Open the damn gate!
How long will you keep acting crazy?
How long will you keep avoiding me?
My truck broke down on the road.
But I'm here, aren't I?
One last time: will you come with me?
You already burnt the house down.
You think you have
anything left to threaten me with?
That house was of no use anyway.
Everything you told me was a lie!
Are you really leaving with this man?
Shut up, it's non of your business!
Stop there!
Are you really going with him?
Then tell me why.
I can help you.
I've tasted too much bitterness.
At least he had sweet honey to give me.
So you've made up your mind?
Isn't there anything to keep you?
There's someone, but he's still too young
to remember you.
Come here.
Open the gate.
Hurry up.
Give her the keys to the truck.
Do it!
Go wait in the truck.
You're in my sights.
I was in a rush,
so I didn't bring you anything.
You like apples, right?
You're nuts.
Do we know each other?
No.
Why are you crying?
Why help me?
Because
I'm going to rob your most valuable possession.
This is all I have.
Hey, man!
Where's Kaizhen?
She's backstage.
I thought you already left
to look for someone you love?
Why are you back again?
This is for you.
You can't just give watches to people.
Why not?
A watch is a symbol of eternity.
And it's broken.
Ok, this is for you.
You can't just give fireworks to people.
Why not?
They're a symbol of the transitory.
Isn't that what we are?
How many more singers are ahead of me?
One more.
You're the last one tonight.
It's a while until dawn.
I'll take you to the house I was talking about.
Do you believe that everything I told you is true?
It's totally burnt out!
What happened?
There used to be a lovely crystal chandelier here.
It was beautiful.
I remember the switch was on the wall there.
When you turned it on, it was dazzling.
That cupboard used to be locked up tight.
It took me forever to get open.
All that was in it was man's and womans clothes.
There was a big dining table here.
Always covered with jars of fresh honey.
The roof and floor were always leaking.
When it rained,
the downstairs would turn into a pool.
One evening
I overheard the man saying to the woman,
That if you recited a spell, the house would being to spin.
Do you believe that?
Do we know when we're dreaming?
Maybe.
The TV said dreams are lost memories.
Im feeling a little regretful.
About what?
How short this night is.
Can I kiss you?
If you think the moon is close enough.
But the moon seems distant tonight.
Then if the house does spin, it's okay.
Dipping water with the point of a knife,
Examining snow with a microscope.
Doing this over and over.
One still wants to ask.
Have you counted the stars in the sky?
They're like little birds,
Ever parachuting through my chest.