Lost in Beijing

Set against the frenzied backdrop of Beijing, where a fast growing economy has created a new class of urban socialites and nouveau riche, Lost in Beijing features four of Asian cinema’s biggest stars - Tony Leung Ka-Fai, Elaine Jin, Fan Bingbing and Tong Da Wei - who together fumble their way through a tragicomic ménage-a-quatre that left the Chinese censors blazing. An-kun (Tong Da Wei) and his wife Ping-guo (Fan Bingbing) have built a modest living for themselves following their move to the capital from China’s poorer northeast. An-kun works washing the windows of Beijing’s skyscrapers while Ping-guo earns a decent wage as a masseuse at the Gold Basin Foot Massage Palace, a popular parlour owned by Dong (Tony Leung Ka-Fai), a rich middle-aged businessman who epitomizes China’s new money-obsessed society. When Ping-guo returns to the massage parlour following a liquid lunch break with one of her coworkers, Dong finds her sprawled across a couch in his office. Exploiting her drunken state, he awkwardly forces himself on her, not realizing that An-kun, atop his perch outside the office window, is a witness to what is happening. Seeing this as a moneymaking opportunity, An-kun decides to blackmail Dong – either he pays or he gets brought up on charges for rape. But when Ping-guo learns that she’s pregnant, the stakes get even higher. In a brokered deal that includes An-kun, Ping-guo, Dong and Dong’s wife Wang-mei (Elaine Jin), the fate of the child will join the two couples in an emotional game of tug of war, where the sides will split over money and revenge, but where love and redemption may rise above them all.