The Postmodern Life of My Aunt

Prominent Hong Kong filmmaker Ann Hui uses a deft touch in THE POSTMODERN LIFE OF MY AUNT to portray one woman's post-Revolutionary struggle to get on with her life in Shanghai. Ye Rutang, a single woman in her 60's, lives a solitary, somewhat eccentric life in a cement-block apartment building full of gossips and colorful characters. The intrusions of one wealthy neighbor, as flamboyant as Auntie Mame, plus the trials of maintaining her dignity as a self-sufficient, college-educated lady in a busy, noisy world full of boors, drive Ye nearly to the brink. Nonetheless, her good nature leads her to try to help people who are down on their luck, all of whom take advantage of her. The first offender is her 12-year-old nephew, who comes to stay with Ye, then fakes being kidnapped to get ransom money. Then a lover scams her in a complicated ruse involving investments in cemetery plots. Eventually, Ye wears down under the crushing reality of modern city life and is forced to revisit the past she had left behind. (In Mandarin with English subtitles) – B.B.