The actual title of Chinese director Wang Jiangong’s debut feature, The Night That Binds Us, translates loosely as Two or Three Things I Know About Her, which conveys a better sense of its dramatic appeal, since the viewer is constantly intrigued by the background of the protagonist, whose background deliberately vague until the end. The film had its second screening on November 2 in the Competition section of the 39th Tokyo International Film Festival. Actor Hu Ling, a veteran of Lou Ye’s films, including Summer Palace (2006), was on hand for a Q&A session along with the cinematographer, Piao Xinghai.
 
The film’s protagonist, An (Hu Ling), is the manager of a university dormitory in Shanghai, though we eventually come to understand that she is from a rural village in Sichuan Province. An, who is middle-aged, winds up in a sexual relationship with one of the dorm residents, a depressed, ineffectual student named Guofeng (Tan Zuhong), whose parents have been arrested for corruption, thus leaving him in emotional and financial limbo. Nevertheless, the class differences between the two lovers are never far from the surface, and as we learn more about An’s tragic past, the contours of the relationship shift considerably from borderline abusive to sympathetic and even touching.
 
Hu was asked why she agreed to appear in such a daring film, and the question seemed to overwhelm her. “When I first received the script, I wondered if I should take the part,” she admitted. “In the West, this kind of character is perhaps not uncommon, but in our country the people are very conservative. Still, this woman, An, really moved me. Though she’s broken, she retains some hope and tries to make the people around her happy. The director was in Shanghai when he sent me the script and I was in Beijing, and when I said I was interested, he came to me right away and offered me the part. I was so nervous at the world premiere (at TIFF on October 30), so I decided to wear this gorgeous dress. The response (to the film) was so gratifying.”
 
Piao explained that his visual conception for the film was to convey realistic situations. “The emotions in the script really impressed me,” he said. “The director and I decided the story should be realistic, which means the textures had to look real. He was thinking about how the audience should feel. We also wanted the main characters’ love to be ambiguous, but believable.”
 
Naturally, someone in the audience wanted to know more about these characters, whose emotions are very raw, and asked about the inconclusive ending and what happens to the two of them afterward.
 
“The director requested that the last shot be a closeup of the student’s face,” said Piao, “because he was younger and thus had some kind of future. But as to what they do after the movie’s storyline finishes, only the director knows, so you’ll have to ask him.”
 
Hu laughed and added, “Yes, please ask the director. Actually, I did ask him and all he said was that what the two characters share is not a feeling of love, but that’s all he would tell me.”
 
One audience member commented that Hu’s character didn’t talk much, but that her ordinary appearance made her feel warm and soft.
 
Hu said that An “comes from the country and has gone through many hardships. She comes to the city and meets this student. She’s never had this kind of experience before. It’s very sudden, which is why she talks the way she does. Some people who have seen the movie tell me they can’t understand me because I talk so softly, but women from the countryside speak quietly. Also, I gained ten kilos to make the character seem more realistic. Though there’s a lot of emotion in the film, I didn’t shout or cry, in accordance with the director’s instructions.”
 
Competition: The Night That Binds Us
Q&A Guests: Hu Ling (Actor) and Piao Xinghai (Cinematographer)