Happy Times

A man stretching the truth for his own sake soon begins doing the same for someone else, with increasingly complicated results, in this gentle comedy from China. Zhao (Zhao Benshan) is a guy in his early fifties who's out of work but still wants to marry his girlfriend (Dong Lifan). However, his ...more

Known for his intense period pieces, director Zhang Yimou takes a turn toward modern-day China in the touching comedy drama Happy Times. Shot around the port city of Dalian, Yimou uses hidden cameras to capture some of the natural bustling street life in some of the wide outdoor scenes. Moving rapidly into advanced consumer capitalism, the city is a very lively and conflicting backdrop for the old-fashioned DIY ethics of lovable protagonist Zhao (Zhao Benshan). With his graying hair and pot ...more