Nothing Can’t Be Undone by a HotPot
没有一顿火锅解决不了的事
China, 2023, colour, 2.35:1, 128 mins.
Director: Ding Sheng 丁晟.
Rating: 6/10.
Mainland director Ding Sheng rediscovers some of his creative mojo with this black crime comedy whose twisty plotting is the main attraction.
STORY
A city in central/southern China, the present day, 15:00. Three men and one woman break into a flat. (One hour earlier, at 14:00, three people had turned up separately at the old teahouse-like Jiubing Theatre, which staged traditional Sichuan opera: a young woman, nicknamed Yaoji [Yang Mi]; a young man, Qiwan [Li Jiuxiao]; and a middle-aged man, Facai [Yu Ailei]. They had all sat down and played majiang with the old owner, Jiubing [Yu Qian], who kept delaying coming to the point. Finally, Facai had told Yaoji and Qiwan to put their mobiles away so they could all talk. The three of them had all responded to a cryptic message left by Jiubing on a chat group: “A demolition officer. Family wealth ten thousand strings of cash. A game of hide and seek. Dare not speak one’s mind.” 拆拆官，家财万贯，藏藏戏，有口难言。Facai had said he thought he understood its meaning and Jiubing, before going on, had asked them if they already knew each other or were from the police. Finally he had explained that, when he heard his theatre was due for demolition, he ended up bribing the official in charge, Fu Yu, RMB200,000 to spare the building. However, when he had visited Fu Yu the previous night, he had been told the demolition was still going ahead, in two days’ time. And Fu Yu had said he would keep the bribe. While using the toilet in Fu Yu’s flat, Jiubing had by chance noticed a perfect hiding place for stolen cash. So his plan was to steal whatever was there, and just keep RMB200,000 for himself. After much discussion of the pros and cons, the three had agreed to join in. Jiubing had said that they needed to act immediately, as Fu Yu’s flat would be empty during office hours. So after some hurried planning, the four of them had set out at 14:30.) At 15:30, just as an opera performance is starting in the theatre, the four return with a large trunk, which they take to a storage room at the rear. Opening it up, they see it’s stuffed with cash, more than RMB10 million in bribes Fu Yu had received over the years. Jiubing changes his mind, saying he may want to keep more than just his RMB200,000. While Facai is arguing with him, they’re interrupted by one of the opera performers and only just manage to hide the money in time. Qiwan then reveals he also brought back a large black suitcase that he and Yaoji had found elsewhere in Fu Yu’s flat. When they open it up, they find Fu Yu’s body inside. They all sit down to have a hotpot and decide what to do. Realising they can’t call the police, they decide to chop up the body to dispose of it. But just as Qiwan wields a chopper, the “body” wakes up.
REVIEW
After the pointless remake A Better Tomorrow 2018 英雄本色2018 (2018) and lucklustre action encomium S.W.A.T. 特警队 (2019), Qingdao-born writer-director-editor Ding Sheng 丁晟, now in his mid-50s, rediscovers some of his creative mojo with Nothing Can’t Be Undone by a HotPot 没有一顿火锅解决不了的事, a black crime comedy, almost entirely set in a single location, where four thieves find they’ve stolen more than they bargained for. A small but strong cast, plus an inventive script, carries the day, despite an over-padded and verbose second half that could easily lose 15 minutes.
As a whole, it isn’t quite up there with Ding classics like Saving Mr. Wu 解救吾先生 (2015), of which it’s slightly reminiscent with its twisty, time-sensitive structure. But its portrayal of tough characters caught in edgy, offbeat situations marks it as a typical Ding film, with a seamless combination of dialogue, performances and direction. Alas, at only RMB54 million, box office for the May Day release was no better than that for Ding’s previous two flops, and 10 days later it was hurriedly put online, on the Youku platform.
The screenplay was co-written by online drama series director Xiu Xiaonan 修潇楠, Ding himself, and writer-director Wang Hang 王航; Wang’s Beijing Film Academy short, 火锅 (literally, “Hot Pot”, 2021), on which Ding was creative producer 监制, inspired the whole thing. In that 17-minute short, five crooks gather for a final hotpot dinner to share out some loot and have a convivial time, but unfortunately everything goes horribly wrong. The participatory aspect of a hotpot, in which all diners contribute to the final flavour, was the basic theme of Wang’s short, with a dark twist. The same idea – that everyone is there for the greater good – bubbles away through Nothing Can’t Be Undone: in its first half, the group of four initially gets to know each other over a majiang game, and in the second half, post-robbery, they sit down over a hotpot to split up the proceeds and then decide how to handle an unforeseen problem. The robbery itself is hardly shown – partly because the audience has already been briefed on it but also because it’s the least important aspect of the movie.
The strongest part is the first 50 minutes, which has a sustained tension as the plot is slowly revealed: the film starts with four people breaking into a flat, suddenly flashbacks to an hour earlier when they first met via a mysterious chat-group message and agreed to join in a robbery, and then shows them returning with the proceeds of said robbery. The main setting, in an unidentified city in central/southern China, is an old teahouse-like theatre used for traditional Sichuan opera: the first half is set in the main area, the second is set in a storeroom at the back. The whole thing could easily be retooled as a two-act stage play, and the smooth mix of camerawork, editing and acting – as well as the rapid three-week shoot, during Feb 2023 – begs the question whether the film was shot in big chunks with multiple cameras, rather than shot-by-shot. Whatever the case, the whole picture has a remarkable fluidity, as well as performances that are sustained in real time rather than created by an editor.
More’s the pity then that the second half isn’t tighter. As a sudden problem throws the group into a panic, the real background of each character is gradually revealed through a series of clever twists that do, actually, end up making sense. But getting there takes way too long, pushing the film’s running time over two hours when it should be no more than 110 minutes. The comic elements also become much more slapsticky and over-cooked, losing the tension of the first half, and it’s only the smart plotting, with regular twists, that saves the day.
Widescreen camerawork by Ding’s regular d.p., Ding Yu 丁豫 (no relation), is fine in the very restricted settings, though he does over-use a circling camera for group conversations, especially in the first half around the majiang table. The medium-well-known cast blends well, with Yu Ailei 余皑磊 in familiar territory as a tricky villain and veteran stand-up comic Yu Qian 于谦 (Our Happiness 相声大电影之我要幸福, 2017; Song of Youth 老师！好, 2019) suitably cryptic as the mastermind trying to save his teahouse/theatre. As the sole woman in the central quartet, Yang Mi 杨幂, now 37, who’s top-billed here but has rarely been seen on the big screen the past few years, initially seems awkward and miscast but comes through strongly later on. She even manages to hold her own against Tian Yu 田雨, often cast in larger-than-life roles, who steals a lot of the spotlight in the second half as the “problem”.
The two main sets by Ding regular Feng Ligang 冯立剛 have an authentic look and feel. The music score, by another Ding regular, Lao Zai 捞仔 [Loudboy], owes much – suitably – to Chinese opera.
CREDITS
Presented by Eastern Grace (Beijing) Film (CN), Beijing Baination Film & TV (CN), Mingbo Gongdao Film (CN), Beijing Television Film Talent (CN), Beijing Zhongjing Culture Entertainment (CN), Shanghai Seven-Cat Culture Media (CN), Shanghai Taopiaopiao Movie & TV Culture (CN).
Script: Xiu Xiaonan, Ding Sheng, Wang Hang. Script advice: Jia Zhijie [Alex Jia]. Photography: Ding Yu. Editing: Ding Sheng. Music: Lao Zai [Loudboy]. Art direction: Feng Ligang. Styling: Zeng Jiahui. Sound: Chen Chen. Action: Wang Weitao. Executive direction: Wang Hang, Xiu Xiaonan, Maliya Habuli.
Cast: Yang Mi (Yaoji/Chicken), Yu Qian (Jiubing/Nine Cakes), Tian Yu (Fu Yu), Yu Ailei (Facai/Fortune), Li Jiuxiao (Qiwan/Seventy Grand), Huang Xiaolei (Jiubing’s wife), Yang Man (Jiubing’s mother), Li Yong (Sichuan opera performer), Tan Fei (Mayou), Ha Dan (Fu Yu’s wife), Li Gang, Zhao Sizhou, Liu Zuowei, Gu Yong (Sichuan opera musicians), Hao Yunming (San, lighting engineer).
Premiere: Hainan Film Festival (Competition), 22 Dec 2023.
Release: China, 1 May 2023 (theatrical), 11 May 2024 (online).