Shower (Xizao)
Set in contemporary Beijing, Zhang Yang’s bittersweet comedy Shower focuses on the proprietor of a traditional Beijing bathhouse, Mr Liu (Xu Zhu), and his relationship with his two sons. The eldest, Daming (Pu Quianxin), is a rich yuppie who fled the family home to pursue a business career in the southern Chinese region of Shenzhen. He lost contact with his elderly father years ago, but has returned after receiving an alarming postcard from his mentally challenged younger brother, Erming (Jiang Wu), suggesting that Mr Liu has died. In fact his father is very much alive, though frail in health, and presiding over the closed world of the bathhouse, where elderly local men gather to relax away from the demands of home, exchange gossip and stage fights between their pet crickets. When Daming suggests that his father retire, Mr Liu brushes him off: “I’ve done this all of my life and I like doing it!”.
Standing faithfully at Mr Liu’s side is Erming, who takes delight in scrubbing the floors, manning the desk and greeting clients. Erming’s relationship with his father is a close one, and both take a childish delight in dousing each other with water and seeing who can run fastest round the block.
The difference in world views between Daming and his aging father is cleverly played out in the opening scene, where we see a smartly dressed businessman step into a coin-operated shower akin to a carwash. This is in direct contrast to Mr Liu’s establishment, where men will spend literally all day bathing, soaking and enjoying a whole range of peripheral services, including haircuts, massage, and the benefit of Mr Liu’s wise council.
As Daming spends more time with his father and brother, he gradually learns to appreciate the more traditional way of life, and the close, authentic relationships it offers, as opposed to the fast-paced lifestyle of Shenzhen which is based on contacts rather than genuine friendships. In phone calls to his distant wife, we hear Daming repeatedly postponing the date of his eventual return. He is also concerned about the future of Erming, whose life revolves around the bathhouse community. The local government has laid out plans to demolish the whole area to make room for space-saving tower blocks, portending the break-up of a community that has supported Erming since childhood.
The misfits that spend their days at the bathhouse ensure that the film, though moving, doesn’t slip into sentimentality. These include a podgy amateur singer who belts out ‘O Sole Mio’ at the top of his voice, so long as he is under a shower of water, a debt-ridden businessman who hides underwater to escape his creditors and a harangued husband who marriage has been on the rocks ever since his wife’s naked run-in with a petty thief. Mr Liu has a wonderful gift for patient counsel, meeting his customers’ needs without judgement or reproach.
Intertwined with the story of Daming’s return are visionary scenes depicting earlier generations of the same family, searching for water in times of drought. These scenes explore the wider theme of water as a life source, and add weight to the film’s assertion that the relentless pursuit of progress can be a destructive force in family and community life.
