The Economist.
David, last year you chose "Farewell My Concubine" for our first Drum Tower Film Club.
This time it was my turn to pick the film and I chose "Lost in Beijing" directed by Li Yu.
Its Chinese title is "Pingguo."
Had you seen it before?
I had not, and actually to my shame,
I hadn't heard of it or the director Li Yu.
And I'm really glad you chose it 'cause it shows China at a real turning point.
That's right.
The film came out in 2007, the year before the Beijing Olympics,
and it zooms in on a migrant woman named Pingguo who works at a massage parlor in the capital.
And a warning, this film shows a rape scene and explicit sex,
and we're going to talk about that.
And also, there'll be a lot of spoilers.
I'm Alice Su, The Economist's Senior China Correspondent,
and I'm here with my cohost, David Rennie, our Beijing Bureau Chief.
Welcome to the second episode of our film club.
This week, we're asking,
what does "Lost in Beijing" tell us about the dynamics of money, gender, and power in Beijing of the 2000s?
And have those dynamics changed today?