1930 in Shanghai, the country boy () went to the seaside to go to his sixth uncle (Li), and his sixth uncle took him to serve Shanghai song and dance queen Xiao Jinbao (Gong Li). Xiao Jinbao is a woman who overlooks Master Tang (ornaments) on the beach, but she has an affair with Master Tang's subordinate Mr. Song (ornaments), who always wants to be the boss.
Uncle Liu died, and the master told him that it was another gang leader. Then he took Xiao Jinbao, Shui Sheng and others to take refuge on an island where there was only a widow and her children.
The master ordered anyone to go to the island casually and kill him. Soon, the body of the man with the widow appeared in the reeds. Xiao Jinbao knew that the master had done it and was very dissatisfied with his cruelty. Lonely life on the water also makes the same sad little Jinbao feel pity.
Extended data:
The story of this film is so thin that it is top-heavy. It only tells the story of gangsters putting down the rebellion and killing their mistresses. But Li Baotian, Li and other actors performed well in the film.
However, as far as the plot is concerned, the film has declined slightly. Zhang Yimou mostly covers up the pallor of the story with the aesthetic presentation of freehand brushwork, and it is too simple to simply tell the story with the changes of the characters' own mood and background environment.