Each autumn brings with it a new cultural life, a new season of inspiration, invocation, and many high-minded artistic pursuits. Plus Nicolas Cage. As the respite of Golden Week approaches, the marquees of Beijing’s movie houses will be alight with the finest of cinematic diversions. Unfortunately, I don’t really have time to see all of these movies, so yeah…let’s play a game in which I infer the plot from the movie poster and then find out the actual plot on Douban! It’s fun. ***

One Step Away (触不可及)

Well, first off, I would say this is a movie about dignity. Dignity and severity and looking into the distance...towards the future? Like all good Chinese costume dramas set during or between World Wars (something I cleverly inferred from that hat Sun Honglei is wearing), this is the story of dignity…and also severity. In the background, I see some people doing what appears to be ballroom dancing in the midst of a burning town, so let’s assume that this is the heart-wrenching story of a showgirl who falls in love with a dignified and severe army lieutenant during WWII (let’s say it’s set in Shanghai, because these things usually are) and melts his bitter heard with her passion for the dance. Probably someone is a spy? In any case, let’s assume it falls within my second-favorite movie genre: Attractive-people-having-romantic-problems-during-wartime. What It’s Actually About: It’s indeed an epic love story spanning seventy years and involving both spying and tango (everyone’s favorite pastimes together at last!), set initially in the stylish and dangerous milieu of Sino-Japanese War-era Shanghai. Pretty close. I think I deserve a cookie or something.

Dearest（亲爱的）

I’ve been seeing these posters all over the city and they’re not giving much away. On one hand, the rather minimalist posters suggest a stilted romantic drama, but this seems potentially way more sinister. We’ve got some Vicky Zhao up in here, which is generally a good sign and a creepy little girl in the center who may be a metaphor, but may also be a ghost, but may also just a little girl whose presence in this film is pregnant with meaning. Otherwise, I’m feeling something heavier coming off of this one—family strife, general misery, the pain of human mortality etc. What It’s Actually About: Dearest is the latest from director Peter Chan (Comrades: Almost a Love Story) and there’s nary a happy-go-lucky vibe to be found. Dearest tells the story of a Shenzhen family who recover their kidnapped son after three years of desperate searching and stars Vicky Zhao as the long-suffering foster mother of the child in question. The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival to some ambivalence but many accolades for Vicky Zhao’s performance as a migrant woman whose solo journey to recover her child shapes the latter half of what’s no doubt a heaving tear-jerker. Zhao speaks an Anhui dialect in the film, which is basically unprecedented for a starlet in a mainstream film and has earned her big-ups from both Chinese and foreign critics alike.

The Golden Era (黄金时代)

This is a movie I’m actually excited to see. From director Ann Hui (Night and Fog, A Simple Life) and starring Tang Wei (Lust, Caution), The Golden Era is basically as it appears in the poster—a cerebral, stylish literary love story. What It’s Actually About: Ann Hui’s anticipated biopic of famed early-20th century Chinese writer Xiao Hong also premiered in Venice to mixed reviews, but I’ll be damned if I can resist a historical literary romance with a slightly art-deco vibe. Tang Wei’s powerful screen presence and Hui’s unique storytelling seem ideal to captivate audiences with a graceful rendering of the celebrated author and her rocky personal life and literary career. The film focuses on Xiao Hong’s literary works and relationship with the writer Xiao Jun (Feng Shaofeng), their life together in Harbin in the 1930s, and the turbulent sweep of history that led to her untimely death in Hong Kong in the 1940s. Expect a formidable performance by Tang, chilling winter landscapes, and the lilting tenor of a romantic, literary coming-of-age epic. (Which, in case anyone was wondering, is my number one favorite movie genre.)

Outcast (绝命逃亡)

IS THAT NICHOLAS CAGE? IN CHAINMAIL? WITH A SWORD. AND A GENTLE YET MASCULINE RIVULET OF BLOOD RUNNING DOWN THE SIDE OF HIS FACE? IN A CHINESE MOVIE? AM I DEAD? Seriously. I’m dead. I died. Bye. What It’s Actually About: Nicholas Cage. In chainmail. With a sword. In a Chinese-Canadian co-production. He plays a “Crusader-turned-bandit,” named Gallain. He speaks with a British Accent. Also: Anakin Skywalker. In 3D. UPDATE: Alas, it seems the powers-that-be have put the kaibosh on the release of Outcast for nebulous reasons, associated theoretically with the national Golden Week holidays. Looks like we'll have to wait for Cage's latest historical-ish fantastical epic. A joint French-Canada joint production (but funded by a Chinese film group), expect this one to finally clear sometime in October after the holidays, along with the latest Marvel superhero comic book movie Guardians of the Galaxy, also expected to hit Chinese theaters around the same time.