Green Hat
{{short description|2004 film directed by Liu Fendou}}
{{About|the film}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Green Hat
| image =
| caption =
| producer = Lu Yan
Peggy Chiao
| writer = Liu Fendou
| starring = Li Congxi
Liao Fan
Dong Lifan
Hai Yitian
Li Mei
| director = Liu Fendou
| music = Jin Wulin
| editing = Jia Cuiping
| cinematography = Chen Ying
Peng Li
| studio = Almost Entertainment Pictures
| distributor =
| country = China
| released = {{Film date|2004|05|07|Tribeca|df=y}}
| runtime = 100 min.
| language = Mandarin
| budget =
}}
Green Hat ({{zh|s=绿帽子 |p=lǜ màozǐ}}) (also known as The Green Hat) is a Chinese film from 2003 and the debut of screenwriter Liu Fendou. Starring Li Congxi, Liao Fan, and Dong Lifan, the film tells the story of two men, one a bank robber, and one a police officer and their shared problem of unfaithful partners. In China, the phrase "wearing a green hat", refers to a cuckold. The film features full-frontal male nudity.[http://highfallsfilmfestival.com/history/2004-festival High Falls Film Festival - Celebrating Women in Film - Movies at the 2004 High Falls Film Festival - THE GREEN HAT: Feature, China, 2003] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150501063654/http://highfallsfilmfestival.com/history/2004-festival |date=2015-05-01 }}. Publisher: HighFallsFilmFestival.Com. Published: 2004. Retrieved: 18 April 2014.
The film was well received by both critics and festival audiences, notably at the 2004 Tribeca Film Festival where it won a prize for Best Narrative Feature.
Plot
Wang Yao (Liao Fan) is a criminal. Along with two friends, he prepares one last heist with the plan that he will head to the United States afterward for a reunion with a girlfriend he has not seen in two years. After the successful robbery of a bank, Wang stops at a small grocery store to call his girlfriend, who ceremoniously dumps him. Distraught, Wang takes the grocery store's proprietor hostage when she demands payment for the long-distance phone call. When the police arrives, one of their number (Li Congxi) offers to take the place of the hostage. Wang agrees, and then promptly commits suicide after asking the shocked officer, "What is love?"
The film then shifts its attention to the police officer, who now begins to face the fact that his wife (Li Mei) has been carrying on an affair with a swimming coach (Hai Yitian). Struggling from sexual inadequacy and humiliation, the officer decides to confront his wife and her lover.
Reception
Green Hat was screened at numerous international film festivals including Tribeca,{{cite web|url=http://www.tribecafilm.com/filmguide/archive/12730302.html|title=Tribeca Film - Film Guide Archive|publisher=Tribeca Film Festival|accessdate=2009-09-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717142132/http://www.tribecafilm.com/filmguide/archive/12730302.html|archive-date=2011-07-17|url-status=dead}} Seattle,{{cite news|url=http://www.seattlepi.com/movies/225197_siff23.html|title=SIFF: 14-plus reasons to check out the big screens|newspaper = Seattle Post-Intelligencer | author = Axmaker, Sean | date =2005-05-23| accessdate=2009-09-27}} and Thessaloniki.{{cite web|url=http://www.filmfestival.gr/2004/uk/process.php?movieid=980&eventid=154|title=International Competition - Green Hat|publisher=International Thessaloniki Film Festival|year=2004|accessdate=2009-09-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725152207/http://www.filmfestival.gr/2004/uk/process.php?movieid=980&eventid=154|archive-date=2011-07-25|url-status=dead}}
Western critics were generally positive in their reaction to the film, with the film winning a Best Narrative Feature from Tribeca,{{cite magazine|url= https://www.variety.com/review/VE1117923819.html?categoryid=31&cs=1&query=Green+Hat|title=The Green Hat Review |author = Elley, Derek |magazine = Variety | date = 2004-05-11| accessdate=2009-09-27}} and FIPRESCI awarding a best film award to it at the Thessaloniki Film Festival,{{cite web|url=http://www.fipresci.org/festivals/archive/2004/thessaloniki/thessaloniki_ndx.htm|title=Thessaloniki 2004|publisher=FIPRESCI|date=2009-02-15|accessdate=2009-09-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081119103622/http://www.fipresci.org/festivals/archive/2004/thessaloniki/thessaloniki_ndx.htm|archive-date=2008-11-19|url-status=dead}} These critics, such as Variety's Derek Elley, found the film to be a strong debut by Liu and praised the film's visual compositions and unusual sexual frankness.
See also
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb title|id = 0416943}}
- [http://www.dianying.com/en/title/lmz2004 Green Hat] at the Chinese Movie Database